


Puck It

by bipercabeth, jasonsmclean



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Friends With Benefits, Hockey AU, Jason POV, POV Alternating, Secret Relationship, percy pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2019-10-23 14:35:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 104,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17685329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bipercabeth/pseuds/bipercabeth, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasonsmclean/pseuds/jasonsmclean
Summary: "We have a lot of work to do before we consider ourselves championship contenders.” Chiron sighs. "Though we doubt that it will be an issue, we’ve decided that no romantic relationships should occur between two team members."It's an issue.Hockey AU





	1. You Could Lead the Way

**Author's Note:**

> All Percy POV is written by bipercabeth, and all Jason POV is written by jasonsmclean.  
> Sex will be present but not explicit unless specified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After NUMEROUS ominous tumblr posts alluding to our collab, it's finally here! We've worked so hard on this bad boy, hope you enjoy!
> 
> **I don't even need to change the world.  
>  I'll make the moon shine just for your view.**

To say that Jason is nervous is an understatement. A huge, massive, colossal understatement. It’s kind of ridiculous that he’s nervous, anyways— it’s not like he has anything to prove. But at the same time, he has everything to prove.

His knee bounces up and down, up and down, up and down, and he doesn’t even notice until Percy pulls his eyes off the road momentarily and asks, “You good?”

“Are you?” The question comes out a little too quickly, a little too forceful.

Percy laughs, shaking his head once as if Jason’s question was dumb. He doesn’t answer, making Jason assume that he’s nervous too, not that he’d ever admit to that.

The rest of the drive is quiet; not even the hum of the radio fills the silence. Jason stares out the window as they pull into the parking lot, which is relatively empty except for a few cars parked closest to the building looming in front of them. Percy parks and turns the car off. Neither of them move for a few moments, the nervous tension fills the air just as quickly as the summer heat replaces the cool blast of the AC. They seem to come to their bearings at the same time. They get out of the car, opening up the trunk to grab their bags. Percy’s bag is significantly lighter than Jason’s, which isn’t a surprise, but Percy still smirks when Jason grunts under the weight of his things.

“That’s what you get for being goalie,” Percy teases, slamming the trunk shut with ease, making sure not to hit his stick, which was poking out from his bag, on the car as he walks around.

Before they can approach the building, they both stop and stare. The nervousness hums within Jason’s body like electricity, buzzing from the top of his head all the way to his toes. Even though this is the place he feels most at home, this time it’s a completely different feeling.

The rink is their happy place… mostly. While Jason started playing hockey out of pure interest and enjoyment, it soon became his entire life. Spectators acknowledged his talent from an early age, and before he knew it he was signing the contract to join Eastview University’s hockey team. There were times when the pressure was a little too much, but hockey has always been his passion. It’s been his everything since he could walk.

Now, however, the sight of the arena makes his stomach twist up into knots.

Last year, when the Spartans lost in the championship for Frozen Four, the old captain, Charles Beckendorf, handed off the title of captain to Percy, making him the youngest captain to date since he’s only starting his junior year in the fall. Percy, while an amazing leader, isn’t always comfortable with the pressure of leadership positions, so he asked Jason to be co-captain a few weeks back. While Jason was happy to accept the role, it makes the pressure of returning for another season almost unbearable. He’s only going into his sophomore year; he’s the youngest co-captain to be appointed, which only adds another level of anxiety that he doesn’t want to face.

The thought of walking into the arena to attend tryouts makes Jason feel weak in the knees.

Before Jason can continue contemplating life and waste his life away frozen in place, a voice behind him calls, “You going in or what?”

A nearly identical voice cackles before saying gleefully, “Maybe they’re scared.”

Percy rolls his eyes, shouldering his bag. “You wish, Stolls. Trying to take our places already?”

Connor laughs. “Tempting, but no thanks. You guys have a _lot_ on your plate this season. No offense, being captain is a death wish.”

Travis grins, and although the Stolls mean no harm, the comment cuts deeper than Jason wants to admit.

“Come on.” Percy nudges Jason lightly, a knowing look on his face. “The coaches won’t like if we’re late.”

They’re under the impression that they’re early until they walk inside. They can already hear yelling from the rink, the sound of a hockey stick hitting the puck echoing around the arena. The chilly air rejuvenates Jason, perking him up. He has to brush off his anxiety now before the team comes in and sees right through him.

“Hey, captains.” Frank’s sitting on the bench, already wearing all his padding. His helmet sits beside him as he’s leaning over, tying up his skates. He grins as he stands, grabbing his helmet with one hand, his stick in the other. “Trying to get on the ice early?”

“Yeah.” Percy’s eyebrows are pulled together; this seems to be a loaded question with the commotion already coming from the ice.

“Too late.” Frank’s smile is a little apologetic as he puts on his helmet, shoves his mouthguard in, and gets onto the ice.

Too late is right.

Through the glass, Jason sees three bodies gliding across the ice, passing the puck back and forth. It doesn’t look like they’re scrimmaging, but the way they’re moving is so effortless that it looks like there’s no thought behind their movements. One of them hits the puck into the net as if it’s the most natural thing in the world, retrieves it, then their drill starts again.

They’re talented, Jason can tell from even a distance. They look like they belong on the ice. Even though his spot is guaranteed and he’s only there to oversee tryouts, he still feels nervous. As far as he knows, there’s not another goalie trying out, but his concern goes to his other teammates who were now fighting to get their scholarship for the upcoming school year.

“They’re good,” Percy comments, grudging respect in his voice.

“I know.”

As one of them turns to receive the puck, Jason sees a long dark braid swinging from under the helmet. For a moment, he’s intrigued— he’d never seen hockey players grow out their hair that long. But then he notices how short the player is and it clicks.

From behind Jason, Connor scoffs, “Dude, is that a chick?”

Travis elbows his brother. “Don’t act surprised. We’ve been expecting this for ages.”

“I’m not surprised, it was a compliment! She’s good!”

“Scared?”

“Alright.” Percy’s voice has an edge to it, one that makes the Stolls stop. “Let’s get changed.”

Jason glances back at the rink one last time before heading towards the locker room.

A few months back, the men’s volleyball team had such a terrible season that they’d actually lost the university money. It led to the university making the difficult decision to cut it (sorry Will Solace), but according to Title IX , that meant either cutting a women’s team or adding another men’s team. Why they didn’t just do the latter, Jason doesn’t know.

It had taken months of deliberation from university officials and protest from the female athletes, but eventually they had settled on cutting the women’s hockey team. Even though the team was good, they’d lost a massive senior class along with the men’s team. That combined with injuries and travel expenses was used to justify discontinuing the team.

Title IX also meant that any girls who wanted to continue the sport could try out for the men’s team.

As Jason puts on his padding, which takes significantly longer than the others since he’s goalie and he has to have more protection than any other player, he tries to think if he knows anyone from the women’s team. He can’t think of anyone in particular, mostly because he never got a chance to see them play with their conflicting schedules. He’s not worried about his own spot on the team, but he’s not sure how the team as a whole will work with the introduction of a coed team.

While the Stolls leave once they’re suited up, Percy stays. He’s quiet, jaw tense and body stiffer than usual. Jason glances up as he pulls up his knee pads, asking dryly, “Are you sure you’re good?”

“Beckendorf left the team to me, Jason. To _me_. We came off a winning season and we hardly lost anyone and I felt confident for once. If I would’ve known about the women’s team being collapsed when he asked me to take over, I would’ve said no.” Percy speaks quickly and Jason struggles to follow along. “You know that Chiron is expecting another trip to the Frozen Four. What if I can’t make that happen?”

Jason sits up straight, shaking his head. “We haven’t even held tryouts yet. You can’t dwell on postseason before our year even starts.”

“I just…” Percy sighs heavily. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Do you think Beckendorf had any idea?” Jason smiles wearily as he stands, so used to the heaviness of his padding that he hardly even notices the weight on his shoulders. “He didn’t. Nobody has any idea how to lead when the season starts. And you’re a junior. Even if this year doesn’t go as planned, you have next year to improve.”

“Yeah.” Percy’s voice is deflated nonetheless. “I guess.”

Jason knows that Percy won’t listen to him, so he grabs the rest of his things and follows Percy out of the locker room.

As they’re tying up their skates, Jason sees that Frank and the Stolls are doing their own drill on the other side of the rink. The three girls, including the one with the braid, is now a group of six and they’re passing a puck back and forth. Their movements are so quick that the puck looks like a bullet on the ice. There’s no way Jason could undermine their talent— even from an initial observation he knows these girls are the best from the women’s team.

Once their skates are laced up, Jason and Percy hit the ice together. Percy skates over and takes possession of the puck while Jason situates himself in front of the goal. He’s filled with ease now that he’s physically on the ice, more comfortable since he knows for a fact that he’s talented. That is one thing no one can take away from him; he wasn’t picked up by a division one team just for fun. Years of relentless playing paid off, and Percy picked him to be co-captain for a reason. They were friends, yes, but Percy picked Jason because he was talented. Back when Beckendorf was still captain, he’d told Jason how he was the best goalie Eastview had seen in years.

Within minutes, more players hit the ice. They all bid hello to the captains, and although it’s unintended, there’s a clear divide between the boys and the girls. The six girls keep to themselves while the boys stay on their side, hitting around the puck and taking shots at Jason, who easily blocks a majority of them.

“Hey, cupcakes!”

Percy stands up straight, glancing over at Jason with a tiny grin, shaking his head lightly. “Duty calls,” he says playfully, the two of them skating over to the scorekeepers’ bench. Chiron and Hedge are waiting for them.

Their head coach, Chiron, looks absurdly out of place with his calm expression. Nothing about this day is _calm_ to Jason, but Chiron sits on the bench and gazes out at the mix of players on the ice without a worry in the world. Hedge, the assistant coach, appears infinitely more wired. His knuckles are white on his baseball bat (why the assistant hockey coach carries a baseball bat, nobody knows) and he scans the group as if he’s trying to pick out who to use it on first.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Chiron greets them, voice just as calm as he appears, which makes Jason even more anxious, if that was humanly possible. “Do you have some drills lined up to run?”

Percy nods quickly, looking at Chiron with the most utmost respect. “Yeah. We have some skating and shooting drills, and I’ll run some passing drills. Frank will help Jason with some defensive drills, too. Does that sound alright?”

Hedge nods, a look of pure excitement on his face, as if he is eager to see how quickly things could go to hell. He blows his whistle, the sound echoing around the rink. The players stop skating and approach the bench, staying on the ice. Jason tries to see past the visors to study their faces, but the people he’s really curious about (the girls) are huddled in the back, whispering amongst each other. One of the tallest girls, one with blonde hair poking out from her helmet, shoots the girls a look that silences them. She’s evidently in charge. Jason makes note of that.

“Okay, boys… and girls,” Hedge calls, seemingly forgetting that for the first time, there are girls on the ice. “Listen to your captains. They’ll be running the drills while we observe, so don’t mess up. We’ll be able to see _everything_.” Chiron rolls his eyes as Hedge pounds the baseball bat against the bench.

Percy turns around, nodding to the players in front of them. “I’m Percy.” He gestures to Jason, grinning. “This is Jason, my co-captain. We have some drills lined up for you guys. We’ll keep them pretty simple since we’re just here to observe, alright?”

As Percy introduces Jason, the blonde’s head snaps in his direction. Even from under her helmet, he can see her lips curl back. She’s not happy. The girl beside her, the short one with the long braid, nudges her lightly. The blonde doesn’t look appeased, still staring Jason down. From a distance, he thinks her eyes are gray, but he’s unsure. They seem to be staring straight into his soul, putting him on edge. He makes a mental note to try to get on her good side.

As they dive straight into the drills, Jason can’t help but to pay extra attention to the girls. The blonde one is good— really good. Her movements are sharp, confident, gliding across the ice as if she’d been doing it her entire life. He respects her talent, but it seems to be one-sided; every time he leads a drill, she stares him down all over again, muttering comments under her breath and begrudgingly going through the drills.

There’s the short one, dark braid flying behind her as she goes through the drills. She’s good, not quite as talented as the blonde, but she makes up for it with aggression. Even in the casual drills, she hits the puck a little harder than most of the other players. When Percy leads the shooting drill where the players have to try to score against Jason, she nearly hits it into the net, which is no easy feat. When he blocks it, he sees her jaw clench up and although she’s frustrated, it doesn’t seem to be directed towards him. As she goes to skate away, she calls, “nice block!” over her shoulder, her voice making the inside of his chest feel warm.

There’s another tall girl, two long black braids falling down her back. She’s even more aggressive than the short girl, which is terrifying. She absolutely dominates during the defensive drills, pushing Malcolm Pace against the glass without so much as batting an eye. Malcolm shoots Jason a wide-eyed look, neither of them expecting that kind of first impression.

One girl, who makes it known that her name is Clarisse during a defensive drill, is a beast. She’s huge and is nearly bigger than Frank, which doesn’t seem physically possible until she goes up against him. Whenever she successfully blocks someone, she sneers, not trying to hide her pride. If the blonde doesn’t give Jason hell, he’s sure that Clarisse will.

The two other girls don’t make much of an impression to Jason, but they’re not bad. They’re quick and work well together and he’s certain that they will be able to play in whatever position Chiron sticks them in. The brunette ends up in a passing drill with the Stolls and she doesn’t find them funny, scoffing at their jokes, which eggs them on further. The other, a stocky girl with dark brown skin, is pretty quiet, only cracking a smile when she scores against Jason, the other girls chanting, “Nyssa!” as she pumps her fist.

Once two hours drag by, Hedge blows his whistle again, which prompts them to skate over. “Nice work today, cupcakes,” he says gruffly, standing on the bench to appear taller than the players. “I saw some real promise on the ice there.”

Chiron nods. “I know this situation isn’t ideal, but we promise to release the team roster within the next two weeks,” he promises. “Captains?”

Percy nods, taking off his helmet with one hand. “I’m really impressed with how everyone played out here today,” he says earnestly. “I understand that this won’t be an easy season—” Jason sees the blonde shaking her head angrily— “but I promise we'll will try to make the season as painless as possible.”

“And we’ll see you guys when the semester starts,” Jason cuts in. “Enjoy your summer.”

With that, the players leisurely take off their helmets and start talking to each other. The blonde nearly rips off her helmet, her curly hair tumbling down her back and those gray eyes staring Jason down one last time. Her gaze settles on Percy, less hateful than before, before she whirls around, skating angrily off the ice. Jason watches her go, unsure how to feel— scared? Nervous? He doesn’t know.

“I’m sorry about her.” It’s that voice again, the girl who told him that he made a nice block. He turns to look at her and suddenly his heart is in his throat and his vision tunnels and his heart jumps and even though he’s on ice, he feels warmer than he usually does.

The girl is pretty. _Pretty_ is an understatement, but Jason isn’t exactly eloquent with his words and he fails to think of any that capture how she looks. Her brown eyes are warm even though her features are not; he wants to ask why she looks so frustrated, but he knows that she’s worried about her status on the team for the upcoming season. He wants to reassure her that she shouldn’t worry because she is an excellent player but he can’t. He’s only co-captain and the coaches have to make the decisions. If it was up to him, he would put her on the team. Not because of her looks, though, he thinks as her dark brown braid swings over her shoulder. Her pure talent is enough to secure a spot among the boys.

“It’s okay,” he says, voice calmer than how he feels.

Her brown eyes suddenly don’t look so warm. “Annabeth means well. She was promised captain and now… Well, you see how that turned out.”

Jason is trying hard to listen in, nodding rapidly once she’s done talking. “Trust me, I know how much that sucks,” he replies sympathetically.

Her brown skin glistens with sweat and he wonders if it’s as soft as it looks.

She sticks out her hand, gloveless, and he sees that her gloves are tucked under her arm. “I’m Piper McLean.”

He shakes her hand, not caring that it’s sweaty from being trapped in the gloves for two hours. “Jason… But you already knew that.” He mentally curses himself for introducing himself when Percy already did that. _Nice going, Grace_.

She smiles kindly. “I just wanted to apologize for Annabeth. She’s great once you get to know her. But her anger is justified. This whole situation is dumb.” Her voice takes on a hard edge now, reaching to her wrist and playing with something silver (a bracelet, maybe?) and he’s nearly certain that they’re not allowed to wear jewelry during games and he wants to make a comment about it but she looks anxious so he doesn’t, and before he can respond, she flashes him a smile that makes his heart flutter beneath his padding. “Well, I hope to see you around. Have a great summer.”

“You too.” He bites his tongue as she skates off, wanting to tell her how her skills impressed him and how her shot nearly sent the puck past him, but he doesn’t. Instead he wonders hazily where she spends the summer and he has a weird feeling about how he feels about her because they exchanged all of four sentences with each other and now he’s imagining her life outside of the arena and he’s sweating and he’s pretty positive it’s not from tryouts.

Percy’s nudge interrupts him from his daydreaming. “Chiron and Hedge want to talk to us,” he says, giving Jason a knowing look. “Come on.”

The warm feeling from Piper went away as soon as he frees himself from his hockey gear and sits beside Percy in front of the coaches. He’s shaking, his knee bouncing up and down again, and this time Percy stays silent about his nerves.

“What did you guys think about the girls?” Chiron asks, staring out at the empty rink as if it’s some beautiful sunset.

“They’re good,” Percy offers up instantly. “That girl on defense, Clarisse, she’s a _monster_. Please tell me we’re keeping her.”

Hedge nods, face full of approval. “We’d be stupid not to keep her, Jackson.”

“Right.” Percy looks like he’s trying not to grin at Hedge. “Um, the other girl on defense, the one with black hair—”

“Reyna,” Chiron chimes in.

“Right. Reyna. She’s good, too. Not quite Clarisse good, but still good.”

“She’s a valuable asset,” Chiron remarks casually.

Jason nods. “The brunette is pretty good too.”

“Katie.”

“Katie, okay. She can work anywhere. And the other girl, Nyssa, she’d work in any position too.”

“I’d say.” Hedge grins eagerly. “Say, what’d you two think about Piper McLean?”

Jason’s heart starts beating a little faster at the mention of her name.

“She’s really good.” Percy smiles too. “Fast. Aggressive, which is something we need on a wing. Small, but I think she can make up for it with aggression. Right, Jason?” There’s a teasing tone to his voice that makes Jason think that Percy caught him staring after her.

“Uh, right.” Jason hopes he doesn’t sound as nervous as he feels.

Hedge looks pleased with their response. “Right answer. I’ve been watching her for years now and she deserves this.”

There’s one more player that they’ve failed to mention. Jason shifts, finally speaking up. “Annabeth is… Annabeth.”

Percy’s head snaps up, looking suddenly interested.

Chiron smiles fondly, shaking his head lightly. “She certainly is, isn’t she?”

“Is she always that… snarky?” Jason asks dryly, remembering how her gray eyes seemed to pick apart all of his insecurities.

“She’s frustrated, Jason. She’s guarded, of course, but her luck has been tested lately, as you can imagine.” Chiron looks a little sad but he keeps his smile. “Once she gets comfortable around you, she’ll warm up. She’s a great team player. She’s lethal on the ice.”

“I agree,” Percy adds, a weird smile on his face. “Did you see the way her and Piper worked together? Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”

Jason makes yet another mental note— ask Percy why he’s being like this about the scary blonde.

“I requested the best from the women’s team and we got them.” Chiron sighs, meeting their eyes finally.

“Wait.” Jason sits forward. “They’re on the team? All of them?”

Chiron’s smile grows.

“I can accept that.” Percy nods once.

“You better.” Hedge says.

Chiron chuckles and stands, shaking his head. “I’d say we’ve done enough talking today, boys. Go home, enjoy your summer. We’ll be in touch.”

* * *

Percy would be lying if he said that the summer before his junior year went as planned.

Granted, it was by no means _bad_ , but he spent more of it making plans for the upcoming season than he’d even thought possible. Everything was geared towards hockey, and the season hadn’t even started. Whether it was planning drills, creating workouts, or outlining practices, Percy poured every second of his spare time into prep.

By the time practice for the season starts, Percy feels himself drowning in the pressure. Or rather, he would be without Jason. Without Jason beside him to remind him to write down his plans, slow down his thinking, or “ _god, take a_ break, _Percy_ ”, none of the work he did this summer would’ve mattered.

Percy knew he was asking a lot of Jason when he asked him to be his right hand man, but the guy just seemed so _together_. He’s been playing hockey longer than anyone else Percy knows, and that competence also extends to his personal life. Jason would probably disagree, but Percy knows Jason is more organized; just taking a look at Jason’s space in their shared apartment confirms that.

So seeing an almost dreamy expression on Jason’s face as they walk into the arena almost sends Percy over the edge, but his friend’s face grows more anxious as they enter the locker room. Percy shakes his head, as if to clear it. Jason being anxious should not make him feel better.

“Looks like we beat them here this time.” Jason points out lightheartedly.

A slight smile crosses Percy’s face. “Yeah, that was kinda the plan. I just want some time on the ice.”

Jason looks at him like he understands and turns to begin the elaborate process of putting on his gear.

The promise of alone time on the ice is the only thing that got Percy out of bed this morning. When Beckendorf first told him he was passing down the role of captain, Percy felt some pressure, but was ultimately proud to bear the same title as his friend and mentor. Now? Percy feels like a joke compared to Beckendorf. He feels like he’s being set up to fail.

The problem isn’t the girls on the team; they earned their spots fair and square, and Percy has no doubts that they can hold their own on the ice. But getting the returning boys and new girls to mesh is the most daunting task he could imagine, and it has been placed squarely on his shoulders.

His _and Jason’s_ shoulders. Percy looks over to find Jason halfway through gearing up and wonders how long he’s been standing like this. He plays center, so he still manages to finish dressing before Jason. Once Jason is ready, they head on to the ice together.

_This_ is what Percy has been missing all summer. Everything that worries him seems to melt away as soon as his skates hit the ice; the only problem he lets himself think about is getting the puck past Jason, which proves to be an exhausting exercise of its own. Percy darts around the ring, trying to catch Jason off guard as well as blow off steam.

He’s brought back from his reverie by a wolf whistle from across the ice. After making a slap shot at Jason that sinks into the net due to the distraction, Percy turns his head to see the rest of the team filing in. The sight fills him with pride and anxiety, but he pushes the latter down as he makes his way over to the glass.

Nobody is in pads yet, giving Percy his first opportunity to accurately size everyone up. It looks like everyone has followed the workout plans he sent out at the beginning of the semester, which is a relief. The team looks good. He allows himself to think it, to let relief swell in his chest for a moment before putting on his captain face.

He pulls off his gloves and visor and runs a hand through his helmet hair, grimacing when it’s sweaty against his fingers.

“Hey guys, sorry to start without you, but I wanted to hog the ice for a bit. We’ve got separate locker rooms here, so boys to the left and ladies to the right. Jason and I will be here when you’re geared up and ready to go. Try to keep it under 20 minutes? We’ve got a lot planned.” Percy scans the faces looking back at him and is pleased to find them quite receptive as they turn to their respective locker rooms.

That’s when he meets her eyes again. They’re calculating, but not necessarily cold as they sweep up and down his frame. Annabeth’s gaze returns to him and he holds it, unwilling to back down at the first sign of trouble.

They stay like that for a beat until Jason skates up behind him. Annabeth glares at his approach, and she turns to follow her friends without a word. Percy watches her curls bounce in their ponytail as she walks away.

“Dude, what’s your deal with her?” Jason’s voice is more curious than unkind, so Percy brushes it off instead of bristling.

“My deal?”

“Yeah. You got this weird look on your face when you talked about her back at tryouts. Figured I’d ask if she was giving you problems too.” Jason’s usual collectedness appears to be somewhat undone by her malice.

“No problems, I’m just trying to figure her out.” It’s not a lie.

Jason sighs. “You and me both. Why does she hate me? She doesn’t look at you this way.”

Percy hears the concern in his friend’s voice and turns to him. “Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong. She’s probably just upset about her team and blaming the wrong person. I’ll try to talk to her.”

Jason’s shoulders relax under all the padding. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me one, that’s what co-captains are for.” Percy punches Jason’s shoulder and puts his visor back on before skating away. “Now, you gonna block my slap shot this time?”

A smile spreads over Jason’s face as he skates back to the goal. “Try me, Jackson.”

The team comes back earlier than asked, another thing that gives Percy a boost of confidence.

They circle around him and Jason as he asks them to do a few laps and other warm ups. Even though he and Jason did them before, they warm up again for the sense of togetherness it gives the team.

Percy notices that Piper stays close to Annabeth the entire time, occasionally nudging her or calling out in her direction. As they move more into drills, Piper appears to be managing her friend. Her touches and words are too well timed with Annabeth’s temper to be coincidental. He makes a note to talk to Piper if he can’t figure out the Annabeth situation on his own.

The rest of the team seems to be in order. They respect his and Jason’s command, and they seem to communicate fairly well for a new group. Percy risks a glance up to the seats near the back of the arena where Chiron and Hedge sit observing and is pleased to see smiles as they take notes.

Percy calls for a water break when his own body demands one. Everyone piles onto the player’s bench and takes a breather. Some chat breaks out, but Percy can’t stop the sinking feeling in his chest when he notices that all six girls are piled onto the same side. Piper, who sits between Annabeth and Frank, is the barrier between them and the boys.

Jason is the last one off the ice. “So,” he starts, “split into offense and defence or scrimmage?”

They end up doing both; Jason takes defense for some work on meshing as a team, and Percy takes offense to do the same. After about half an hour of staying out of each other’s way, they call the coaches down and try to run practice like a real match, but with breaks for pointers when mistakes are made.

The game goes well for all of ten minutes.

Annabeth and Piper team up as wings and lay waste to Butch and Malcolm in their path. The boys seem to be afraid to touch them. _Which is ridiculous_ , Percy thinks after Clarisse checks him hard. The girls may be out for blood, but that’s honestly preferable to the tenativity with which the boys play. He’s about to speak up about it when Annabeth does it for him. She does it much louder than he’d planned to, but she does it nonetheless.

“You aren’t going to break me, you know!” She yells across the ice at Malcolm, who takes her up on her challenge. He becomes more aggressive with her, checking her and even slamming her into the glass once. Annabeth seems to revel in the challenge. Her eyes light up and she takes to the ice with a newfound determination instead of her earlier resignation. She makes the defense work for every inch.

Percy tries to focus on his own playing, he really does, but the grace with which she moves across the ice is honestly stunning. Hockey is a clunky sport, there’s simply too much padding for movements to be as streamlined and sharp as what he sees before him.

When she passes him the puck (a rare instance that they have to talk about at some point), Percy is almost too distracted to make the shot.

But this is the first practice, and he’s captain, and he’s not that weak. Just almost.

He braces himself for Clarisse’s impact and manages to skate past, but he runs straight into Reyna’s waiting block. A stick slaps the ground to his left and Percy risks a glance. He’s met with fierce gray eyes and slaps the puck over to her.

Annabeth is waiting for the puck while Percy goes into defense mode, working to clear a path to where Jason sits at the goal. Piper follows suit and attempts to lures Clarisse away. The bigger girl gives chase, leaving Annabeth alone against Jason.

As soon as she lines up to take her shot, Percy realizes that this may have been a mistake. Annabeth’s expression changes from focused to deadly as she whips back her stick and aims the puck to Jason’s exposed corner with pinpoint accuracy. It grows downright murderous when he blocks her shot within inches of it becoming a goal.

The team takes a unspoken, collective break to watch the fallout.

Jason attempts a good-natured smile. “Try to angle your body a bit less when you’re drawing back for the shot. It’ll make you harder to read.”

Percy holds back a comment on how Annabeth is _plenty_ hard to read as he watches several different emotions cross her face. Piper skates forward slightly, ready to do damage control, when Annabeth speaks in a low, controlled voice, which is far scarier than any of her outbursts so far.

“Excuse me?” She narrows her eyes at Jason and brushes Piper’s outstretched hand.

“Your blades gave you away.” His voice and face are kind, but Annabeth doubles down.

Annabeth closes her eyes for a second and shakes her head slightly. “I’ve been on skates since I could _walk_ , I know how to angle them to fool a goalie.” But that sentence hangs awkwardly in the air. She didn’t fool Jason, and this thought seems to occur to her after the words leave her mouth. “You know what? Fuck this.”

She takes off her helmet and blows past the rest of the team as she makes her way to the exit. Clarisse follows wordlessly, and Piper does the same with a reluctant glance over her shoulder.

Jason just stands in the goal looking astounded. “Should I go after her? What just happened?”

“No,” Percy puts a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “you guys keep scrimmaging. I’ll go talk to her.”

He gets off the ice and takes a moment to remove his skates before walking towards the locker room where the girls disappeared to. His hand reaches up to knock on the door of its own accord.

After a moment with no response, Percy opens the door a crack and calls in “everyone decent?”

He hears a huff from inside and a suppressed laugh. “Yeah, everyone’s _decent_.” Piper calls back.

Still, Percy enters the door cautiously. He feels like he’s intruding here, but he knows he has to be the one to resolve this. It shouldn’t fall to the others on the team.

“Can I have a moment to talk to Annabeth? You two can go back to the scrimmage.” He tries to phrase it politely with the question, but hopes his tone conveys that there isn’t much of an option here.

Clarisse grumbles before Piper nods and all but pulls the larger girl out of the room.

“Before you treat me like a time bomb, know that I don’t have a problem with you.” Annabeth says with her back still turned to him.

“Good to know.” Percy nods and walks over to where she sits on the bench. “But you do seem to have one with Jason.” It’s a statement, not a question.

“I have a problem with a lot of things.” She straightens up and turns to him, anger and frustration written on her face. “Our team was good. We may not have made it to the championship last year, but we were a unit. We were just as good as your team, but our division was tougher. And they cut us for it. Do you know how many girls lost scholarships because they didn’t want to or couldn’t play for this team?”

Percy hadn’t thought about it like that before. He knew that only a few girls had been invited to tryouts, but his mind had never wandered to the other girls on the team.

“There were eighteen of us. Now there are six.” Annabeth tugs on the end of her hair in frustration. “How would you feel if the tables were turned? If Piper told you how to play this sport at every chance she got?”

Her argument made sense until now. “You disliked Jason before he ever spoke to you. Because he’s younger? Because—”

“If you say he’s earned his spot, I’m going to scream.” She interrupts. Percy pauses with his mouth open and shuts it. “ _You_ earned your spot. Beckendorf picked _you_ as captain, not Jason. I saw you play last season, and I saw you play today. You’ve got talent and you’re a good leader. I can handle you being my captain. But Jason?” Disgust floods her voice. “He had one good year on the team and got his spot given to him because you’re friends. I’ve been playing hockey since I was _five_. If they knew they were collapsing the teams, I would’ve made more sense as a captain.”

A part of Percy agrees with her logic. Having Annabeth as his co-captain would’ve been a good strategic move. But the way she talks about Jason rubs him the wrong way. “Look, I know you don’t like Jason, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve his spot. He’s been playing just as long as you have, and he blocked your shot out there. He’s good. And if you respect me as your captain, you’re going to have to respect him too, because _I_ picked him.”

Annabeth quickly smooths over her surprise and looks up at him curiously. “I think it’s cool that you’re standing up for him, but my mind isn’t going to be changed so easily. I’ll listen to you, but golden boy is still going to get on my nerves.”

Percy nods. “Just don’t write him off so quickly.”

“I’ll try to keep it together for the sake of the team. That’s my priority.”

“And the other girls follow your lead. Please don’t take them back to the locker room in the middle of practice.”

This time Annabeth chuckles slightly, which Percy did not expect. “They weren’t following my lead, they were trying to make sure I didn’t make an ass of myself. Clarisse would sooner die than ‘ _follow my lead_ ’.” She uses air quotes to emphasize how ridiculous she finds the idea. Her laugh is really pretty, Percy decides. And her eyes are a lot kinder, less steel and more cloud.

“Alright then.” Percy lets himself smile at her, delighting in the way she returns it. “We good?”

“Yeah.” Annabeth purses her lips in an attempt to curb her smile. “We’re good.”

He stands and offers her a hand. “Well in that case, we should head back. Chiron and Hedge are probably upset about this.”

She doesn’t take his hand, but she stands after him. “Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

They walk back to the rink and lace up their skates side by side on the bench. Percy allows himself to become optimistic about this season and what it might hold for them. With Annabeth as an ally in all of this (he wants to say _friend_ , but he isn’t _that_ optimistic yet), he’s pretty sure they can lock down on what they need to in order to make it to the championship this year. He doesn’t allow himself to think past that, but he gives himself that much.

His optimism holds out for about thirty seconds. When he and Annabeth skate back onto the ice and Piper asks if everything is alright, Annabeth’s response is too loud to be uncalculated.

“Yeah, just had to talk to the captain about some things.”

She barely emphasizes the _the_ , but everyone hears it. Percy just has time to shoot a panicked look at Jason before Malcolm speaks up.

“ _The_?” He raises an eyebrow at her.

Annabeth doesn’t respond, just turns away and starts a lap while the rest of them sit in silence. They’re interrupted by Hedge’s whistle coming from the spectators box.

Chiron shifts uncomfortably in his seat, looking unsettled for the first time since they lost the championship. Percy would give anything not to see that look on his coach’s face again, but here it is on the first day of practice.

Contrary to usual, Hedge starts talking first, rattling off reminders about travel and health forms that they need to have ready before their first game. His voice echoes in the back of Percy’s head as he lists off the academic requirements for staying on the team, but Percy can’t pull his eyes away from Chiron.

“That being said, we have a lot of work to do before we consider ourselves championship contenders.” Chiron sighs, and Percy feels his heart sink with his coach’s shoulders. “I expect better from this group, and I think things will improve if you buckle down and listen to your captains. Regardless, Gleeson and I are going to involve ourselves in practices more than we did today. And we’ve made an important decision. Though we doubt that it will be an issue, we’ve decided that no romantic relationships should occur between two team members. Cohesion is proving itself to be an issue, and we can’t risk relationships further complicating that.”

Annabeth elbows Piper. “Yeah, shouldn’t be an issue.” She scoffs.

Percy can’t quite place why that gives him a similar sinking feeling to coach’s words, but he feels it nonetheless. He looks back at Jason to find his own feelings reflected in his co-captain’s face and begins to wonder exactly what they’ve gotten themselves into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **If I should fall,  
>  act as though it never happened. **
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! We've worked really hard on planning this fic ever since Megan (jasonsmclean) pitched the idea for it, and we couldn't be happier with how well our baby is coming along. We're so excited for you guys to read future chapters! We churned out the first two chapters in a matter of days, so updates should be semi-regular. It's hard to commit to anything stricter than that because we're busy college students who live in different timezones, but we'll do our best!  
> Songs for this chapter are Someone To You // BANNERS (Jason) and Adult Diversion // Alvvays (Percy)


	2. Blood Heat Over Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW Warning: This chapter contains explicit sex.
> 
>  
> 
> **You say that I need a refill**  
>  **And twist me up til we blur the lines.**  
> 

If Jason has to sum up the first two periods of their first game, he’d quote Troy Bolton but tweak it a little: their heads were _not_ in the game.

The team isn’t working together as well as the captains had hoped. Even though their practices the past few weeks hadn’t been too awful, the players seem to have forgotten how to work together. And by the team, Jason means Annabeth, except he’s half-convinced she’s some supernatural being who can read his thoughts, so he tries to think about the things the team as a whole can work on rather than just Annabeth.

But Annabeth isn’t helping the situation. At all.

The first forty minutes consist of Annabeth taking the puck whenever possible and refusing to pass it up the rink. She’s a wing, which means she has every right to go and shoot the puck, but she takes it all the way up every time she has possession of it. The opposing team picks up on this and instantly swarms her. Even if three other players are surrounding her, she doesn’t pass. The only person she risks passing the puck to is Piper, and even those passes are rare.

It’s affecting the entire game.

He risks a glance up at the huge clock on the arena wall. There are two minutes left until their last intermission. He bites down hard, tasting his mouthguard and the sweat on his lips. They’re tied currently and one mistake could screw them over. He’s already let two shots into the goal and he promises himself that no others will sneak by. He can’t let the team down.

As he focuses back onto the rink, he can see Clarisse shoving against the opposing player who has the puck. Her white jersey presses up closely against his red one and the puck is suddenly in Clarisse’s possession. She’s energized, having sat out for the past ten minutes and she passes the puck up the court. Much to Jason’s dismay, it’s Annabeth who takes control.

Percy is open, even Jason can see that. He’s faster than his opponents, darting in and out to get an opening. He’s gesturing to Annabeth with his free hand, visibly frustrated. Annabeth has to see him, there’s no way she doesn’t. She still doesn’t pass.

Piper escapes from her defender, slapping her stick on the ground, which echoes across the rink. Annabeth finally passes, the puck flying across the ice and into Piper’s position. Unfortunately two players go after her. For a second, Jason’s scared to see how she reacts— she’d assisted Percy with their first goal and seems to be holding up fine, yet there’s a bundle of nerves in his stomach whenever he sees people pressuring her. Before his worry can grow, Piper hits the puck to Annabeth again since Percy is trying to find an opening. Annabeth is immediately surrounded by the defensemen.

There’s one minute left in the period.

Annabeth tries to get closer to the goalie. The two guys on her are relentless, trying to shove against her. She’s tough, swinging her shoulders in an attempt to shake them off. Percy is a few yards away from her, slamming his stick against the ground. Her head snaps up and for some reason she still doesn’t pass.

She gets shoved again, a little harder this time. She’s pushed against the glass, not aggressive enough to be considered a penalty, yet just enough so she can’t keep control. The opponent takes the puck from her and makes a break for it.

The clock approaches ten seconds. Jason braces himself, jaw tensing as the player skates closer.

Five seconds. The player attempts a slap shot. Luckily for him, Percy always practices with shots like this, so Jason sticks out his hand to protect the goal.

As the buzzer wails, the puck ricochets off his blocker and flies across the ice.

Both teams begin filing off the ice, going to their respective locker rooms. Jason relaxes, skating towards the exit. As he approaches, he sees Piper trailing behind Annabeth. He doesn’t mean to eavesdrop, but he hears Piper murmuring, “Annabeth, I’ve been open plenty of times. You can pass to me.”

Annabeth sends Jason a fiery glare as she gets off the rink, putting on the skate guards before storming towards the locker room.

“Is she always like this?” Jason asks wearily as he struggles to put on his skate guards. He knows his struggle is unavoidable since he has nearly twice the padding everyone else has, but he feels stupid in front of Piper.

Piper smiles tiredly, slapping on her own skate guards before taking off her helmet. Some strands of her hair stick to her forehead. “Not usually,” she answers and he can’t help but notice the trace of worry in her voice. “We usually work pretty well together.”

He looks around as they head towards the locker room, the two of them the last ones off the ice. He realizes that she had waited for him to get on his skate guards before heading back, which causes heat to pool in his lower stomach. _Stop that. She’s probably just being nice._ No matter the reason, he feels guilty for being happy. Even if her gesture is meant to be something more than friendship, it’s not like they can act upon it.

As soon as Jason enters the locker room, Chiron sighs. “I was just telling the team to cooperate, but I think they’ll listen better to you and Percy,” he murmurs. “And Gleeson isn’t being helpful.”

As Chiron says that, Hedge slams his baseball bat onto the concrete floors, the noise echoing in the locker room. The coaches look at the team one last time before exiting the locker room to give them some privacy.

Percy looks exhausted, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Guys, there’s no way this team is even close to being better than us,” he insists. “Last season they didn’t even make it to playoffs. I understand that our dynamic is new, but there’s no way we should’ve had this many close calls.”

Lee Fletcher shakes his head. “There’s no communication,” he says bitterly. “Nobody is passing to each other. I was in the game for ten minutes and didn’t touch the puck _once._ ”

Butch nods, crossing his arms. “There’s no trust. Everyone is looking out for themselves.”

Jason can’t help but look at Annabeth. Her gray eyes zoom in on his gaze and she glares at him. “Do you have something to say to me, Grace?” she demands harshly.

The locker room, which is buzzing with worry, suddenly falls silent.

He swallows, not wanting to go against her, but he doesn’t see another option. “You don’t trust any of us. You haven’t been passing the puck.”

Her eyes narrow. “I’m a wing. I’m supposed to have possession of the puck more than the _goalie._ ”

He takes a steadying breath. “Obviously. But you need to pass the puck to someone else if you’re in trouble.”

She’s not backing down. “I’m probably one of the best players on the team. I don’t always need help. I can handle a little pressure.”

From beside her on the bench, Piper looks tense.

“I’m just saying, if you have more than one guy on you, you should—”

Annabeth is suddenly on her feet, only a few inches shorter than Jason. “I don’t need to be taking advice from someone who doesn’t even play wing.”

“Annabeth—” Piper says softly, but Annabeth gives her friend a look that instantly silences her. 

Jason looks to Percy for backup, but he seems torn. He won’t meet Jason’s eyes and Jason feels alone. It’s like their first practice all over again— Percy letting Annabeth undermine him. It’s not going to happen again, especially since it’s their first game. 

“I’m your captain,” he points out, even though he hates pulling this card. “I’m just giving you advice, Annabeth. It’s nothing—”

“If I was on this team from the start, you wouldn’t have even been _considered_ for captain!” she yells, face turning red. “You can’t blame the fact that you couldn’t stop two goals on me!”

Now Percy steps forward, holding a hand out towards Annabeth. “Hey, stop,” he says flatly, eyebrows pulling together. “Like it or not, Jason’s my co-captain. I picked him for a reason. We can’t sit back and think about what could’ve happened if our teams hadn’t been combined.” He takes a deep breath and Jason notices how Annabeth, while still thoroughly pissed, doesn’t look as furious as she had just moments ago. “Jason’s right. You _have_ been hogging the puck. Piper and I were both open before they took possession. I understand that it’s our first game and you feel like you have something to prove, but you don’t. You’re talented, Annabeth. You have nothing to prove to anyone.”

Jason expects Annabeth to go on another tangent. He doesn’t expect for her to sit down and take a deep breath. She looks more tired than angry, and she glances over at Piper. Piper nods.

“Okay, fine.” Annabeth’s voice is brittle and there’s a tinge of defeat in her tone. “I need to pass more. Is there anything else I should work on this period?” She looks up to Jason and for once she doesn’t look ready to rip his head off.

“Uh… no,” Jason answers truthfully. “You’ve been holding your own pretty well out there other than the possession problem.”

The blonde nods stiffly, her curls bobbing as her head moves.

“I can imagine Chiron’s going to bench some of the starters at the beginning of the period to give them a breather,” Percy says, breaking the tension. “So backup players, remember what Jason said and pass the puck.”

Reyna looks up and despite having played for the majority of the game, she looks as if she’s hardly broken a sweat. “Their defense isn’t great,” she informs the team matter-of-factly. “Our defense is infinitely better. If the wings pass more, we can easily get shots in.”

Percy nods. “Exactly. Defense is holding up well. Clarisse, keep it up.” Clarisse nods, a small grin forming on her lips. “We’ve got this, guys. Communicate. When we work together, we’re dangerous. Let’s go out there and kick ass.” He holds up his hand, causing the team to stand, huddle in a circle, and bring their hands together. “Spartans on three. One, two, three—”

“ _Spartans!_ ”

The third and final period is different. Jason is confident that Troy Bolton would agree that this time around, their heads _were_ in the game.

Thanks to Clarisse, their defense stays strong, not allowing the puck to go within several feet of the goal. While her system with Reyna is unstoppable, she and Frank are another story— their offensive opponents struggle to move the puck up with them defending the goal.

Although Annabeth is benched at the beginning of the period to rest up, she starts to pass the puck to her teammates once she gets back in the game. She plays alongside Travis Stoll, the two of them working fairly well together on the wings. But once Piper enters back into the game during the second half of the period, the girls become a dangerous duo, the puck effortlessly gliding back and forth between them.

During the last five minutes of the period, Piper gets control of the puck and passes it up to Annabeth. For a second, Jason worries that her pride will best her and she’ll feel entitled to take an impossible shot. The defense thinks the same as well, closing around her.

But that’s not the case. Annabeth passes the puck to Percy, who manages to get a clear shot of the goal. He snaps his stick up and Jason can see the net move as the puck flies by the opposing goalie. The team celebrates, for the clock is running out and they take the lead.

The rest of the game goes by in a heartbeat. Before Jason knows it, the buzzer is wailing, a majority of the crowd screaming for them because they just won their first home game. Jason yells alongside his team, high-fiving Frank before the team lines up to shake hands with their opponents and the refs. 

By the time the team makes it back to the bench, Hedge is screaming, swinging the baseball dangerously over his head. Chiron carefully avoids his fellow coach and smiles warmly at his team. “Good game, everyone,” he says happily. “Rest up this weekend and I’ll see you back on here on Monday.”

As Chiron and Hedge walk away, Connor looks to the team before they head back to the locker room and says, “Party at our place!”

Michael Yew laughs, rolling his eyes. “Really? Would we still have had this party if we would’ve lost?”

“Oh, my dear Michael,” Travis coos, throwing his arm around the shorter boy. “We knew we weren’t gonna lose. You must have more faith in us. Let’s celebrate our first win.”

“Did I hear a party?”

Percy whirls around, shaking his head. “Leo, where’d you come from?”

Leo’s leaning up against the door from the players’ bench, smirking. His fingers are drumming against the door, his brown eyes glistening with excitement. “Doesn’t matter. I heard party and I’m interested.”

“ _Team_ party,” Travis pipes up.

Connor elbows his brother. “Leo can come, he’s practically our only cheerleader. And he always brings booze. Isn’t that right, Leo?”

“Yep. Got a bottle of tequila purely for this occasion.” Leo’s eyes zero in on Jason. “Good game, captain. That save at the end of the second was impressive. I could hear panties drop in the audience.”

_“Leo._ ” Jason feels the heat spread all the way to his ears. He watches as Piper suppresses a smile.

Leo Valdez is certainly a character; Percy once called him a ‘one in a million guy’. The two of them met in English last year and ended up hitting it off, and he’s the only friend Jason really has outside of the hockey team. Leo attends most of the home games and was deemed the team’s personal cheerleader last year by Beckendorf. While Leo’s jokes are usually funny, Jason doesn’t appreciate the dropping panties comment in front of Piper. 

“What? It’s true,” Leo defends himself as Jason watches Piper follow Annabeth towards the stands where a group of girls is calling to them.

Before Jason can respond to Leo, Percy is nudging him. “I’m gonna go say hi to my mom. I’m sure she’ll want to see you. You coming?”

“Yeah.” Jason raises an eyebrow at Leo as he turns to follow Percy. “I’ll see you at the party, okay?”

Leo looks like he wants to make another comment about Jason turning girls on, but he nods instead. Maybe he saw how embarrassed Jason was and is trying to puzzle together why exactly he was so embarrassed. “Okay. See you there, captain.” Judging by the tone in Leo’s voice, Jason fears that Leo is connecting the dots and before he can let his guard down more, he whirls around and follows Percy towards the bleachers. 

Percy’s mom has already come down from the stands and is looking around. When she sees her son, her eyes soften and she holds out her arms. “What a game!” she exclaims excitedly, pulling Percy in for a hug. “Two goals in the first game of the season! You did great!”

“Tell me about it.” Percy is smiling widely, pulling away to look at his mom. “Did Paul and Estelle come?”

“I didn’t want to keep Estelle up so late. She’d be cranky especially on the car ride home. But she told me to tell you that she knew you were going to win. She was right!” Her eyes settle on Jason and she smiles widely. “Oh, honey, you did so well!” 

“Thank you, Sally.” Jason is pulled into a tight hug. “It’s so nice to see you.”

And it was true— it felt so nice to see Sally after a few months. Truth be told, Jason didn’t have the best relationship with his mom. When he met Sally the previous year, she seemed more than happy to take Jason under her wing. She always joked that Jason was practically Percy’s brother, which meant that she must be his mom. Although those were just jokes, Jason wishes that Sally was his real mom. He would enjoy having a mom like her and a stepdad like Paul and even a little sister like Estelle.

“Tell me the truth.” When Sally pulls away from Jason’s hug, she looks at the two boys with a worried expression on her face. “I know you just won, but how is the team doing?”

“We’re alright, Mom.” Percy waves off his mom’s concern. “We _did_ just win.”

Sally doesn’t look impressed with Percy’s answer. “Jason?”

“It’s been tough, but we’re managing,” Jason admits. “We wouldn’t be able to pull it together without Percy.”

“Or Jason,” Percy throws out, clapping Jason on the shoulder. “I’d be dead without him.”

Sally looks more convinced this time but her eyebrows are still furrowed. “Really? No drama with a whole new team?”

Jason’s mind flashes to Annabeth storming off the ice during their first practice. “Nothing too bad.” He feels bad for withholding the truth from Sally, but he doesn’t want her to worry any more than she already is. “Like I said, Percy’s keeping the team in shape.”

As if Percy had been reading Jason’s mind, Jason notices that his friend’s eyes had drifted off to where the girls were standing a few feet away. It appears that the girls who hadn’t made the men’s team were there in support, all of them talking excitedly. Percy’s eyes focus back onto his mom and he tries for a smile. “Someone has to.”

“You’re too modest.” Sally rolls her eyes. “Surely Beckendorf wouldn’t have selected you if he didn’t believe in you.”

“Or Beckendorf wanted me to suffer,” Percy jokes halfheartedly. If Jason didn’t know Percy as well as he did, he probably would have been convinced that he was kidding, but there’s a subtle trace of truth behind his words.

“Oh, hush.” Sally shakes her head and sighs. “I wish I can stay longer, but I should head home.”

“Give Estelle a hug for me?” Percy asks. “And Paul?”

“Of course. They want to come to the next home game so luckily I won’t be the messenger again.” Sally hugs Percy again, a little tighter than her first one. “You did so well, sweetheart. You’re a good captain.”

Percy doesn’t look completely convinced but he smiles. “Thanks, Mom. Love you.”

“You too, Jason.” Sally moves over to hug Jason. “Both of you should feel good about yourselves. Beckendorf would be proud if he was here.”

Jason nods. “He gave the job to the right person,” he says confidently. His eyes flicker to Percy and he notices how Percy still looks a little crestfallen. “I’ll you soon.”

“You will.” Sally can’t resist and gives Percy one final hug. “I love you.”

As Sally walks away, Jason nudges his friend. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Percy seems to shake off whatever was bugging him and tries for a smile. “Come on. We have a party to clean up for.”

Once they arrive in the locker room, the team stops their chatting, which is suspicious. Percy seems confused as well, and it isn’t until Malcolm calls out, “Percy? Jason?” that the captains look up. 

“Yeah?” Percy asks.

Malcolm shifts, glancing over at the Stolls. “Do we invite the girls to this?” he asks quietly.

Jason’s eyebrows shoot up and he can’t help but glare at Malcolm. “What do you mean?” he demands. “It’s a team party, isn’t it?” 

“I mean, they’re definitely on the team, but their coach back on the women’s team was super against parties. We heard they never went out or drank as a team. Wouldn’t it make them… uncomfortable?” Malcolm looks worried and Jason’s anger subsides.

Percy nods. “Even if they don’t want to come, we invite them,” he clarifies. “Just because this was the men’s team and they’re girls doesn’t mean we’re excluding them. Got it?” His voices holds a challenge to those who disagree.

The team hurries up at that point, eager to get to the party. They’re already finished showering before Jason’s even halfway done getting his gear off. The last two in the locker room are Jason and Percy, not that Jason minds.

“Percy?” 

“What?” Percy’s voice is muffled as he steps into the shower area. 

Jason anxiously chews on his bottom lip as he finishes taking off his gear, walking into the showers and standing under his own shower head. “Do you think I did alright tonight?” he asks gently.

“I mean, yeah, you blocked all those shots, and—” 

“No. With being captain. To Annabeth.”

Percy doesn’t respond right away. “You did,” he says slowly. “I don’t know, man. She’s difficult if you don’t know her.”

“You act like you know her.” 

Percy’s laugh echoes in the shower. “She wanted to be captain and you got it as a sophomore. She’s gonna be mean to you, like or not. But you were right and she saw that. You weren’t a dick, you were reasonable. She listened to you. You did great, Jason. Don’t sweat it.”

Jason feels a little better after that, but he still feels as though maybe Annabeth was right. Maybe he doesn’t deserve the title of co-captain after all.

Once Jason and Percy are both dressed, the two of them packing up their gear, the girls enter the locker room, Annabeth leading the way. They’re still in uniform, talking excitedly until they see the captains still there. They fall silent, the eight of them staring at each other timidly.

Percy breaks the silence. “Sometimes after we win, the Stolls host a party,” he starts out slowly. “Just music and drinks and beer pong. They live about a block from here. If you guys want to come, you’re more than welcome. But if not, no pressure.”

Piper and Reyna perk up at the mention of a party. Jason’s not huge on parties himself, but Piper’s evident excitement makes him feel anticipation run through his veins. 

Annabeth glances back at her friends before looking at Percy. There’s a smile on her face with an emotion Jason can’t quite place his finger on. “We’d love to,” she agrees. “Text me the address?”

“On it.” Percy slings his bag over his shoulder easily. “See you there.”

Jason wants to ask why Annabeth seems to like Percy so much more than him, but he doesn’t want to intrude. Maybe it’s because Percy actually deserves captain while Jason’s just along for the ride. Regardless, he wishes Annabeth could respect him as much as she does Percy. 

Even though the Stolls only live a block away, Jason still drives there. Percy’s excited, drumming his fingers on his thigh as they park on the street in front of their house. It’s a tiny two bedroom that they share with Jake Mason and Ethan Nakamura. Their place is the venue for their hockey parties, and whenever Jason sees it he gets bad flashbacks to his first party last year when he woke up in the bathtub. To this day, he has no clue how he managed to fall asleep in the tub, and nobody can provide him explanations. 

They enter the house, music blasting from the speakers next to the TV. Lee’s phone is hooked up to the aux since he has the best taste in music. The Stolls are assembling the bottles of alcohol on the kitchen counter, the entire surface covered in glass bottles. Leo and Jake are assembling beer pong on the dining room table, carefully filling the solo cups up with beer. Sherman Yang and Malcolm are already drinking beer, Butch and Michael taking shots. Even though Jason’s not a huge partier, there’s something about team parties that put him at ease.

“Captains!” Ethan calls, raising his bottle into the air. “Get over here! You two need some shots!”

Percy rolls his eyes and looks at Jason. “Ready?” 

“I haven’t been drunk in a while. I think my liver can withstand tonight.”

“Idiot.”

The boys all crowd around the kitchen counter as the Stolls go to work. Their shot glass collection is seemingly endless, the two of them filling them up until there’s enough to go around. They lift up the glasses, Leo telling everyone to shut up.

“We played a great game out there tonight, gentlemen—”

“You’re not even on the team, Leo!”

“—so let’s celebrate! To the win!”

“To the win!” With the chant, the team knocks back their shots.

Even though Jason’s throat burns and he makes a face at the taste (he got unlucky with tequila), the Stolls are already refilling the shot glasses, prompting them to take another group shot. When Jason sets his glass down, he’s feeling warm already, so he decides to make himself a mixed drink to prevent himself from getting too drunk too quickly. Percy follows his lead and they mix tequila with soda.

As if signaling the start of the party, Lee turns on some obnoxiously loud rap song and blasts it. The Stolls stop pouring drinks and start playing beer pong with Leo and Jake. Jason leans against the counter and Percy does the same.

“So?” Jason takes a swig and stares at his friend. “Still feeling hopeless?”

Percy looks into his cup and shrugs. “I was never completely hopeless, just nervous,” he counters. “I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling too confident during the first two periods.”

“Yeah.” Jason lifts the glass to his lips and nearly drinks half of it. The more he drinks, the sooner he’ll feel a buzz. “I wasn’t too confident when Annabeth was yelling at me.”

Percy’s eyebrows scrunch together as he finishes taking a sip. “She didn’t mean any harm.”

“Any harm?” Jason shakes his head. “She hates me.” 

“She just wants your job.” 

“It’s not my fault that you promoted me.”

“I know.” Percy glances up, frowning. “Trust me, I know. But Chiron said that once she’s not always this way. Give it some time.”

“How are you defending her right now?” Jason asks incredulously. 

“Benefit of the doubt.” Percy downs the rest of his drink before pouring himself another. “Let’s not dwell on her right now, alright? We just won, Jason, and she also took your advice. I’d say that’s an accomplishment. Relax and let’s drink.”

It turns out that they can’t not dwell on Annabeth. Just as Percy says that, the door opens and the girls walk in.

Except they’re not the girls that Jason expects. He’s used to them with helmet hair and sweat on their faces and padding and jerseys. When they stroll up and his eyes find Piper, he feels suddenly a lot more intoxicated than he really is.

Piper’s hair is pulled back in a damp braid, swinging as she walks in. She’s wearing a yellow shirt and a denim jacket, assorted buttons pinned to the jacket. Her black jeans are ripped and she’s wearing worn Vans. The outfit is simple, really, but the sight of her in regular clothes makes Jason’s mouth go dry. He grips his cup a little tighter and without meaning to, he knocks the rest of his drink back. It isn’t like Piper wasn’t gorgeous before, because she was, but seeing her in clothes that hugged her body rather than padding that causes the jersey to hang loosely off of her brings on a whole new level of attractiveness. She’s looking around and waves when her eyes settle on Jason. Jason’s heart feels ready to burst out of his chest when she acknowledges him. 

From beside him, Percy is staring just as intensely, but his eyes are on Annabeth instead.

“Boys,” Annabeth greets as she approaches. Clarisse goes to talk to Lee about his taste in music while Reyna, Katie, and Nyssa all grab a beer and mill around. Only Piper and Annabeth approach the captains.

“Girls,” Percy greets, his voice half an octave higher than usual, not that Annabeth would know any different. The only reason Jason recognizes this is because he knows Percy so well.

“You guys certainly have prepared,” Piper comments dryly as her gaze drifts to the bottles covering the counter.

“The Stolls always have alcohol on hand,” Jason says easily.

Her brown eyes focus on him and he’s warmer than he should be, even with all the alcohol in his system. “Is that so?”

Before Jason can answer, someone throws an arm around his shoulder. He tenses until he feels curls tickling the side of his face, a dead giveaway that it’s Leo. “Jason, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Jason wants to make some offhand comment on how he and Annabeth certainly aren’t friends, but he resists. “Of course. Leo, this is Piper and Annabeth. Guys, this is Leo.”

“A pleasure.” Leo sticks out his hand for them to shake. Annabeth stares at it like it’s some kind of weapon and doesn’t move. 

“Nice to meet you.” Piper shakes his hand easily. “Uh, not trying to be rude, but why are you here? I was under the impression that this is a team party.”

Jason stifles a laugh and he immediately feels Leo’s eyes on him.

“Leo’s our team cheerleader,” Percy responds. “Unpaid and underrated.”

“Of course.” Piper’s eyes shimmer and she nods. “I should’ve known.”

“Piper.” Annabeth sounds almost bored as she unscrews the lid off a vodka bottle. “We taking shots or what?”

“Excuse me, boys.” Piper flashes them a dazzling smile, which very nearly knocks the wind out of Jason’s lungs. “I have some catching up to do.”

When Piper knocks back the shot with ease, not even making a face or reaching for a chaser, Jason has to tear his eyes away from her before he says something stupid. He may not be drunk, but there’s already alcohol in his system and he’s prone to make stupid comments when he’s under the influence. 

“Hey!” Travis yells, eyes narrowing on Piper and Annabeth. “You two play pong?”

Annabeth smiles and looks at Piper. “A little, yeah, I guess you can say that,” she says carefully.

Piper nods, rotating the shot glass in her nimble fingers. “We’ve been partners a few times.”

Connor is resetting the cups when he glances up at them. “You won’t want to play us first, then,” he decides, head swiveling around to find a potential pair. When his eyes settle on Jason, a shit-eating grin forms on his face. “Why don’t you two play the captains?”

“Yes!” Leo laughs and throws his head back from beside Jason. “Jason, you have to do it.”

Jason meets Percy’s eyes. Percy shrugs and finishes off his second drink. “Sure, we’ll play,” he agrees and then settles his gaze on Annabeth. “If you guys are up for a challenge.”

Annabeth squares her shoulders. “I think we can handle it,” she shoots back. “Right, Piper?”

Piper isn’t looking at Annabeth; her eyes are only on Jason. “Right,” she says, her grin unnerving Jason to no end.

As Connor finishes refilling the cups, Jason and Percy situate themselves on one side of the table, Piper and Annabeth taking the other. The girls are whispering to each other, eyes darting back and forth between the cups and the boys.

“They can’t be any good. Malcolm said their coach didn’t allow partying,” Jason offers under his breath.

Percy rolls his eyes in response. “When there’s a will, there’s a way,” he answers. “If they wanted to drink, they did. Did you see how easily they took their shots?” 

Jason’s stomach flutters as he remembers how effortlessly Piper knocked hers back. “I guess.”

“We can’t underestimate them.” Percy rolls the ping pong ball in his fingers. “They’re our rivals, Jason.”

Laughing, Jason nudges his friend. “You alright, Jackson? Sounding a little competitive there.”

“Never better.”

“Who’s facing off?” Annabeth asks, holding up her own ball.

“Me,” Percy says, locking eyes with Annabeth, that same strange grin spreading over his lips. “Ready?”

“Ready.” Annabeth flickers her eyes to Leo. “Count us off?”

Leo leans forward eagerly. “Three, two, one.”

At the end of the countdown, Percy and Annabeth throw their balls at the same time, eyes still locked. Annabeth’s ball bounces off the rim of one of the cups into Jason’s open hands and Percy’s ball easily sinks into a cup.

“Our turn,” Percy calls out smugly. Piper fishes the ball from the cup and tosses it to him as Annabeth glares at the cup like it was the reason she missed her shot.

Jason goes first, and he’s feeling confident until he sees Piper’s grin. The sight is unsettling (in a good way) and he doesn’t give his throw enough arch. It bounces off the rim and Travis catches it.

“Nice attempt, captain,” Piper tells him, a teasing edge to her voice. 

Even if he was sober, he’s not sure he’d be able to form a sentence.

Percy effortlessly sinks his shot and there’s no denying the pride on his face. “Should I take it easy on you girls?” he asks sarcastically as Annabeth downs the cup.

Without responding, Annabeth throws her ball. Right after it sinks into a cup, Piper throws hers, just as easily making it into a neighboring cup.

“Drink up, boys,” Piper laughs out. As she brushes a free strand of her hair back, Jason can see the same silver bracelet he’d seen on her wrist during tryouts shining in the dim light of the house.

There’s a worried look in Percy’s eyes as he downs the cup. Jason knocks the beer back as Percy throws the balls back to the girls. This time Piper’s shot doesn’t make it and Annabeth’s does. Jason makes eye contact with Piper before raising the cup to his lips. When he lowers the cup, he sees that she’s smiling.

After that, the game goes relatively quickly. He’s barely aware that they only have one cup left on their side while Annabeth and Piper sit comfortably with five. Before Jason can comprehend what’s happening, Percy misses their redemption shot and the girls high five victoriously. Jason’s stomach is filled with heat and he’s much more intoxicated than he had been before this game had started. Judging by the hazy look in Percy’s eyes once he’s finished knocking the cup back, he’s just as drunk.

“Good game, girls,” Travis congratulates them. “That was a great effort. But can you do so well against me and my brother?” 

Annabeth scoffs. “We demolished your captains. I think we can do just fine.”

Leo cackles as he helps the Stolls reset the table.

“What the fuck?” Percy whispers to Jason as they head back to the kitchen counter. “I thought Annabeth said they didn’t play much.”

“I thought Malcolm said they didn’t party at all,” Jason hisses back. His vision is already blurring around the edges and he tries to watch as Annabeth faces off against Connor. He thinks that Annabeth wins, but he isn’t entirely sure. “Good at hockey _and_ pong? We might as well give them our captain spots.”

Percy laughs, shaking his head. He doesn’t respond and Jason can see him zeroing in on Annabeth again. Jason’s too drunk to worry about it.

Whenever Jason gets drunk, time doesn’t necessarily seem to follow its normal constraints. He feels as if only one second has passed when Piper and Annabeth are screaming in victory, Leo raising one of their arms in the air with his own. The Stolls seem pissed but are acting like good sports, nodding in respect as the girls claim victory. As Leo is holding their arms up, he yells something along the lines of _“here’s to respecting women!”_ and the team howls in response. Jason’s blinking rapidly but he’s looking in Piper’s general direction as Lee pours them victory shots and he can’t help but smile when she knocks it back just as easily as she did her first one.

“So.” Leo elbows Jason as he makes his way over to the counter. “You and Piper, huh?”

Jason’s mind reels and he manages to tear his eyes away from her. “No,” he says instantly, shaking his head a little too rapidly. “Not at all. She’s just a good pong player.” His words are slightly slurred but he’s thankful that he can lie even if he’s drunk. “She’s my teammate, Leo. Nothing more.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know about that stupid little rule Chiron made.” Leo waves it off as if it’s nothing. “I know you guys _can’t_ do anything, but if you _could_ , would you?”

“Uh…” Jason’s throat closes up and he feels warm all over. He looks to Percy for defense and realizes that his fellow captain has disappeared. He’s forced to deal with Leo alone. “I don’t know. I hardly know her.”

“But you think she’s cute,” Leo presses, a mischievous look on his face. 

“Fine, yes. Happy?” Jason asks sharply, sucking in a breath. Leo looks pleased as he blindly reaches for a shot glass. “Now shut up and pour me another shot.”

* * *

Annabeth looks _hot_. The word comes to mind before a mental image of Percy’s mom shoos it away and grills him about respecting women, but there’s no other word to describe her.

Actually, there are plenty of words to describe her, but his mother would be far more ashamed of those. 

But try as he might, there’s no ridding himself of these thoughts. Not when his blood boils every time their eyes meet. It isn’t even like she dressed up for tonight, he’s just never seen her outside of hockey gear. But now, seeing her legs in those ripped jeans— he’s fucked. He’s so fucked.

He laughs as the team toasts to Piper and Annabeth’s second pong victory and tries to lose himself in the post-win bliss that he usually feels during these parties. The music pounds in his head along with the alcohol in his veins and everything is warm and a little hazy.

One person comes into focus from across the crowd, a familiar head of blonde curls bouncing and weaving in and out of the group of intoxicated college kids. Percy feels his feet carrying him after her before he can stop himself. He turns a corner and finds Annabeth sitting out on the front doorstep, the door ajar behind her.

“I was wondering if you were going to follow.” She says without turning around. 

Percy closes the door and sits facing her on the step, resting one arm on his bent knee as he leans back against the wall of the house. “How did you know it was me?”

Annabeth turns to him, cheeks flushed from the cool autumn breeze and the alcohol. “Honestly, the first person I said that to wasn’t you. I’m pretty sure I scared the shit out of Frank.” Her laugh floats above the distant blare of speakers from inside; Percy finds himself leaning in to hear it clearly.

He clears his throat and forces himself back to the wall. “I just wanted to say thanks for that last shot. I know you didn’t pass because you didn’t trust anyone, so I appreciate you giving me the puck. I mean, you should’ve done it for the first two periods too, but I’ll take baby steps.” He keeps his tone light, but he isn’t worried about offending her. She’s been different since their talk in the locker room, a mutual respect hanging between them that somehow feels wrong to comment on. Sometimes she even laughs at his jokes during practice. He isn’t sure what that means, but he thinks they might be less hopeless with the whole friends thing than he’d initially thought.

Percy isn’t too keen on the way she’s treated Jason, but he knows more intervention on his part isn’t going to diffuse the tension. He’d stepped in during intermission because he had to, but he can’t make Annabeth respect Jason. That has to happen between them.

Annabeth punches his shoulder and turns to look at him with a slight smile. “Okay, asshole, I get it. I’m a puck hog. But you didn’t follow me to talk hockey.” She raises an eyebrow at him, but Percy _did_ come here to talk about hockey, so he doesn’t know what she’s implying.

Except he does. Right now, with liquid confidence burning in his bloodstream and Annabeth’s eyes on him, Percy wants to say fuck it to the whole captain thing and kiss her. She’s smart, and witty, and complex, and Percy wants to spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure her out. He wants her to let him.

Percy may have led with thanking her, but he followed her with nothing but bad intentions. 

“No, I didn’t.” The bold statement comes out of nowhere, but Percy lets his words sit in the space between them. Surprise flickers across Annabeth’s features before being replaced by something that makes Percy’s mouth go dry: interest.

“Oh?” She angles her body to mirror his and he swallows the lump forming in his throat. Her gray eyes gleam dangerously in the moonlight when she asks him, “then what _did_ you come here for?”

“I thought you the one with all the answers.” He counters.

“Usually, but I’m curious. What tears the great Percy Jackson away from celebrating his first win of the season with his teammates?”

“Is this you saying you’re not a teammate? Damn, you were just starting to grow on me.” Percy can’t stop his smile as Annabeth rolls her eyes. She tips her head back against the wall and looks at him through lidded eyes, her silence forcing him to acknowledge her question.

He cracks under her gaze. “Alright, I followed you because I’m interested. You’re a piece of work, Chase.”

“You sure know how to flatter a girl.”

“My mom raised me right.” 

Annabeth’s response is cut off by a crash from inside. She shakes her head and looks at the door. “You should probably get back in there, captain.”

_Captain_. Percy’s first thought is that he didn’t sign up for this side of captain. (He didn’t _sign up_ for any part of captain, technically, but he’d at least accepted it.) This part, the off the ice, ‘please don’t die of alcohol poisoning or else the coaches will kick my ass’ part. The part that tears him away from a very pretty girl who is definitely flirting with him.

But she reminds him that he’s captain, so he goes.

“Duty calls.” He says, standing and offering her a hand that she waves away.

“I’ll be in in a few.”

Percy shrugs and opens the door, leaving Annabeth sitting in the pale light behind him as he goes to investigate the crash. It isn’t hard to find the source of the problem, he just asks the first person he sees where the Stolls are. Lee points him in their direction and he rounds the corner to find the Stolls and Frank scrambling to clean up a shattered handle.

“Now we have to go steal another from Phi Kapp!” Connor whines. “Do you know how hard it is to steal alcohol from frat guys? We could _die_!”

“And why are you stealing alcohol from parties?” Percy chimes in, amused by the way all three heads whip around to him. He knows better than to think he can stop the twins from stealing, but he lets them sweat for a second.

Travis straightens up with a dustbin full of glass. “We’ve made it our personal mission to take one from every frat on campus. We were down to one… but I guess we’re back up to two.”

Annabeth returns to the kitchen then and smiles at the sight she’s met with. On the other side of the house, Piper calls out to her to do some shots, and she leaves the kitchen without a second glance.

Percy does not get to go take shots; he has to stand in the kitchen and help his teammates clean up their mess. Broken glass and drunk people aren’t a good mix, and they can kiss these parties goodbye if someone on the team gets hurt.

The party continues on around them, but Percy doesn’t feel like a part of it anymore. Glass breaks all the time, but it was never his job to deal with it before. All he ever had to do was play, and that’s something he knows he does well. But leading? It’s not just on the ice or in the locker room. Leading this team is 24/7, he realizes.

His eyes scan over the crowd of team members. He sees some guys setting up more drinking games and makes a point to avoid that area. Jason is taking a shot with Leo, and Percy considers joining them until they lean in to talk. The conversation looks private, so he decides not to intrude.

He’d heard Beckendorf complain about how his position as captain changed his relationship with the team, but Percy had assumed he wouldn’t let it get that way. Now he’s starting to see those changes.

He feels his gaze pulled to the far side of the living room and is met with steel gray eyes looking back at him. Annabeth leans on the back of the couch, surrounded by girls in a conversation that she takes no part in.

Percy doesn’t trust himself to walk over to her, let alone talk to her in front of the team. That moment on the front step was an outlier, something he can’t repeat. For the sake of the team.

That seems to be the driving force behind everything he does lately. _For the sake of the team_. He wonders when the last time he did something for himself was.

Percy is so focused on the party around him that he doesn’t notice when Annabeth comes up next to him.

“Stop thinking so loud.” She says.

He doesn’t respond, but he feels his jaw clench when Leo pulls Jason over to where Malcolm and Lee are setting up flip cup. He wishes he could let go like that and curses himself for feeling unable to.

“Hey, Percy.” Annabeth nudges him and he refuses to acknowledge the way his skin is on fire where it meets hers. He looks down to see genuine concern on her face.

“I’m fine.” He insists.

“I didn’t say you weren’t.” She comments, her voice considerably calmer than his.

A sigh escapes Percy. “You wanna get a drink?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Annabeth leads the way to the drink station and _okay,_ he’d be lying if he said he didn’t appreciate the view on the way over. She tosses her hair over her shoulder to look back at him and his body burns like he’s just taken a shot of whiskey.

The actual whiskey goes down considerably easier, if that’s possible. Annabeth laughs at his face and the way he instantly reaches for a chaser and the sound makes him forget how to breathe.

He’s not sure exactly how it happens, but they stay together for the majority of the night. Her presence brings a sense of normalcy to the party that disappeared when Jason wandered off. She doesn’t even do anything spectacular to ease his mind, just occasionally waves a hand in front of his face when he spaces out.

Everyone at the house is drunk enough for the awkwardness to have completely dissipated, so that’s in their favor. After tonight’s game, it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect some lingering hostility towards Annabeth, but they’re all too drunk on the win and the liquor. And if anyone notices the way Annabeth’s hand lingers on his arm, Percy is willing to bet that they won’t remember such a small detail in the morning.

But god, he will.

The night reaches a natural conclusion when Jason stumbles to the couch and passes out. A chorus of complaints breaks out among those who plan on staying the night when he takes the most comfortable spot. 

Annabeth’s shoulder presses against Percy’s arm as they watch the scene unfold from the other side of the room. “You know,” she considers, “sometimes I wish I was a lightweight just so I could sleep on the couch every now and then.”

“C’mon, man! I called dibs!” Leo tries to roll his friend off the couch, but Jason is dead weight in his arms. A devious smile flashes across Leo’s face as he rushes out of the living room and returns with a Sharpie.

“But then again, maybe I’m good with where I’m at.” Annabeth chuckles.

Percy steps forward to stop Leo when Annabeth rests a hand on his stomach, freezing him in place.

“Please,” she says with a wicked grin, “let me have this.”

He stays put, but she keeps her hand on him for several moments too long. Thankfully, most of the team is caught up in a heated debate over what to draw on Jason’s face. They eventually settle on a classic dick on the forehead.

Suddenly Percy’s vision is blocked. Or rather partially blocked; he can see through the cracks of Annabeth’s fingers with his right eye. He moves to see what’s going on, but Annabeth moves with him.

“What exactly is this for?” He asks. 

“Deniability.” She responds easily. “Don’t worry, I’m recording this whole thing.”

After the initial excitement of drawing on Jason dies down (after plenty of group pictures are taken with their sleeping captain), the rest of the team starts dropping like flies. Those who aren’t staying the night set out on their walks home, and those who are staying argue over who’s sleeping where.

“You staying?” Percy pulls Annabeth’s attention from where Katie and Travis argue over who gets the armchair that Piper has just sat down in.

“No, I’ve got my own place a few blocks away. You?”

“I’m walking back to mine and Jason’s place.”

Annabeth grabs her jacket on her way to the door and Percy follows wordlessly. He isn’t sure why it feels like they’re sneaking out, but they don’t say goodbye to the few conscious people left in the house.

The driveway presents a new problem when they turn to walk home in different directions. 

Percy glances over at her to find her expression neutral, leaving the decision up to him.

“My mom would kill me if I didn’t walk you home.” He turns on his heels and walks next to her on the sidewalk, part of him screaming that this is a terrible mistake and the other part too caught up in her responding smile to care.

“That’s the second mom comment of the night, are you planning on telling her about me?” Her eyes gleam.

“Nah, I’m a big boy.” He hopes he plays off the way his heart speeds up when she fights to hide her laughter. “So, how did you manage to get an apartment on your own?” 

“Oh, I’m a big boy too.” She says with mock seriousness. “I work really hard for my hockey and academic scholarships, and they give me enough to afford my own living space.”

Percy nods, impressed. He follows her lead when she turns before a crosswalk and tries to take note of the street name for his own walk home.

There’s a lull in the conversation after she announces that they’re nearing her complex. The two of them walk together in silence, but Percy feels tension growing in his chest the closer they get.

He’s feeling a lot lighter after spending time with her at the party, and a rebellious part of him wonders if this night has to end so innocently. But he reluctantly comes to the realization that she’s got him absolutely hooked and there’s nothing he can do about it in theory or practice. What kind of captain would he be if he broke the no dating rule the night of their first game? He can’t let everyone down like that. 

Just as Percy resigns himself to an entire season of beating himself up over this girl, she presses the elevator button and walks inside with nothing but a glance over her shoulder— a clear sign to follow. Against his better judgement, Percy enters after her.

If there was tension on the sidewalk, it’s multiplied tenfold in the dingy elevator. He doesn’t miss the way Annabeth’s eyes dart over him as they ascend. He just doesn’t know what it means.

Percy is out of the elevator before the door is fully opened. Annabeth is more relaxed during her exit and keeps her composure as she makes her way down the hall.

They stop at a door he assumes is hers and he has no clue what to say. He decides on a _‘goodnight’_ that gets stuck in his throat as she backs up to the door and stares at him with an intensity that makes heat rush throughout his body. Her eyes drag lazily up and down his body and meet his own with a sense of approval.

Neither of them say goodnight; neither of them say _anything_. Just like the driveway, Annabeth leaves the decision up to him.

He can do the responsible thing, say goodnight and pretend the alcohol erased this night from his memory. Or he could not. He doesn’t know what will happen if he doesn’t go home, but the look on her face is giving him plenty of ideas that sound better than the alternative. 

He gets a decision in this.

He decides to do something for himself.

Annabeth’s grin is jackal when he steps forward into her space. Her key slips in the lock and the door clicks open before he can properly register what’s happening. The amount of space between them stays consistently small as Percy backs her into her living room and kicks the door shut.

They stand in the center of the room in a silent face off to see who will break first, who will strike the final blow and finally end the tension Percy was so foolish to try to write off.

On any other night with any other girl, Percy would’ve stood his ground. But when the reward is so high, he fails to see the benefits of holding out. He moves forward and pulls Annabeth to him by the front pockets of her jeans. Their bodies collide, breaking both the silence and reverie. 

Annabeth tangles her hands in his hair and pulls his lips down to her own and his brain loses the ability to form even the simplest thought. It’s messy and needy and a near constant battle, but it feels _right_. Annabeth tastes like lime and a hint of whiskey as her tongue swipes against his bottom lip and her teeth pull at it. Percy can’t help the groan that escapes him, but he doubles his efforts to kiss the grin it elicits off her lips.

With great effort, he pulls away. “Is this okay?” He says breathlessly.

Annabeth rolls her eyes and responds as she pulls him back down. “Of course it is, now shut up and kiss me.”

She slides her hands down from his hair, letting them fall down the sides of his neck and rest on his chest. They press into him and force him backwards until his back hits the door, and then she’s pulling herself impossibly closer.

Percy has never been with someone who takes charge this way, but he’s all for it as she presses her body between his legs and allows her hands to wander. He gives his own hands the same freedom; one tangles in her hair the way he’s wanted it to since he first saw her princess curls, while the other snakes around her waist and slips under her shirt, running up and down the soft skin of her back.

She tugs insistently on the hem of his shirt and tries to remove it with his arm still around her. Percy can’t help his chuckle at her impatience as he straightens up and pulls it over his head. Once it’s tossed somewhere into the living room behind her, Annabeth takes a moment to examine his body, lust visible in her eyes. It shouldn’t make him blush, but he can feel heat creep into his cheeks. She gives him a once-over and a look he reads as ‘ _that’ll do_ ’ before taking off her own shirt and kissing him again.

Percy is never going to complain about kissing Annabeth, but she’d just gotten a full ten seconds to look at his body and given him _none_. That doesn’t seem fair.

He dips his head to her neck and savors the skin there as he makes his way down to her collarbones. He sucks on the hollow above her collarbone—not enough to leave a mark, but enough to change her already-heavy breathing.

“No hickeys.” She breathes.

He leaves his lips on her skin when he responds. “At all? Or can I hide them?” He doesn’t wait for her response to start moving again.

“Define hidden. I share a locker room with five of our teammates.” One of her arms wraps around his shoulders and she tips her head back to give him better access. 

“No neck or chest, I got that.” Percy starts, putting an arm around her waist and dragging the other one over the curve of her ass to pull her leg up by the back of her thigh. The move throws her off balance, making her grip tighten on him deliciously as she gasps in his ear. “I was thinking thighs.” He says. 

“Thighs are good.” Annabeth’s voice creeps up in pitch and Percy delights in her breathlessness. She seems to hear it too, because she suddenly detaches herself from him and only stumbles a little bit as she moves to crowd him against the door once more. 

“My turn,” she says as her hands move to his belt buckle. Percy swallows as she lets her hands brush against him while looking up at him with a devious smile. That look is too much for him, so he buries his hands in her hair and kisses her lips hard. They fight for control of the kiss until Annabeth’s hand squeezes the bulge in the front of his jeans.

Percy’s mouth falls open as a rush of pleasure shoots through him. Annabeth takes advantage of his preoccupancy and deftly unbuttons his pants and shoves them down his legs. She doesn’t rise, instead teases the waistband of his boxers while settling onto her knees.

While the idea of a blowjob from Annabeth makes his knees go a little weak, it doesn’t feel right to be going so far up against her door. Percy is determined to do this right; she deserves something classier than that.

He grabs her hands and hauls her to her feet. Annabeth looks confused, and in that confusion he sweeps her pants down her legs (which is harder than it sounds, because those things are _tight_ ) and throws her over his shoulder without thinking.

She smacks his ass and only protests a little bit as he makes his way to the door he assumes is her bedroom. She doesn’t correct him, so he must be going the right way.

It takes him a moment, but he manages to open the door to her bedroom. He walks forward until he reaches her bed and sets her down in front of it, crowding forward into her space and following her down when she falls back onto it. Annabeth wraps her long legs around his waist as his lips travel down her neck and past her collarbones, pausing at the valley of her breasts. She arches her back to unclasp her bra and Percy slides the straps down her shoulders.

He’d known from the beginning that Annabeth was gorgeous, but seeing her nearly bare before him makes his mouth go dry. He searches her face and his eyes linger on her swollen lips before they flicker down to the rest of her body. 

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” He breathes. 

“You’re not too bad yourself. Now get down here.” Despite the frustration in her voice, she smiles at him, and Percy is pretty sure that smile is the most gorgeous thing he’s seen in his life.

He’s all too happy to comply. He lowers himself down to her and takes a nipple into his mouth, relishing in the way she squirms underneath him when he swirls his tongue around it. A considerable amount of time is spent just like that— Percy trying his best to get new reactions to his touch out of Annabeth. But if he didn’t already know about Annabeth’s impatience, he would’ve learned it now for sure.

Her hands tighten in his hair the lower his kisses wander down her body. Every now and then she’ll test her luck with an attempt to shove him further down to where she needs him, but he refuses to do anything but take his sweet time with her.

He takes a turn at her hip bone and she curses him for it. He’s sensitive to her frustrations, and resists the urge to kiss his way down the legs he’s been waiting to get his hands on all night as he drags her panties down her legs. Instead he pushes himself down to start on the inside of her knee. He intends to deliver on those hidden hickeys.

Annabeth pushes onto her elbows to watch him, her eyes rolling at him when he presses his first kiss to her knee.

“Don’t be a fucking tease, Jackson.” She growls at him.

Slight tactic change. He holds her gaze as he jumps up to the halfway point, an unavoidable smile on his lips when her leg betrays her poker face and twitches in his hold. He continues making his way up toward her center and begins sucking at the soft skin a few inches away from where she’s doing her best to pull him.

His breath ghosts over her clit while their eyes stay locked on each other.

“Alright, asshole. Are you going to make me beg for it?” She says with a challenge in her voice.

“Nope, but it’s good to know it crossed your mind,” Percy says before dipping his head down at last. Annabeth’s reaction is instant; her back arches and she throws her head back while her legs clamp around his head. He uses his hands to push her legs back down, delighting in the chance to get his hands on them, and goes to work on her.

Before she can become too undone, Annabeth fists her hand into his hair and drags him up her body. She tightens her grip on him and flips them over so that Percy’s head falls against the pillows and she straddles his lap. After a moment of fumbling in her bedside table for a condom, she rips it open with her teeth (an image that will forever be burned into his mind), rolls it onto him, and sinks down unceremoniously.

A moan falls from the back of Percy’s throat as she shifts to adjust to his size. He peers up at her and is met with the glorious sight of Annabeth with her lips parted and brows creased while she does a test roll of her hips. His thumbs dig into her hip bones and spur her on as she sets a blistering pace.

Fire licks through his whole body at the feeling of her moving above him. He attempts to push his torso up to capture her in a kiss and show her exactly what she’s doing to him, but she plants a hand on his pec, pinning him down and giving her leverage to continue the unforgiving roll of her hips. 

“Fucking hell, Annabeth.” He pants. She flashes an evil grin down at him and presses her body flat against his for a sloppy kiss.

If she keeps this up, Percy isn’t going to last much longer. And knowing Annabeth, he has one shot at this. It kills him to turn the tables when their bare chests are pressed together like this, but the chance of being able to do this again outweighs the temporary satisfaction.

He wraps an arm around her waist and rolls her over onto her back. She raises an eyebrow at him and he wipes the attitude from her face as he thrusts inside of her.

His pace is nowhere near as fast as hers, but he keeps his movements powerful and fast enough that Annabeth writhes underneath him. 

This Annabeth— this wild, uncontrollable, uninhibited Annabeth— is downright magnificent. Also a little scary, and _extremely_ pushy, but an absolute privilege to lay eyes on. Her golden hair splays out like a halo on the pillow underneath her, and her body shines with sweat. What gets Percy most is the look in her eyes; that insatiable hunger that swims in their depths.

Percy wants to satisfy that hunger, he really does.

But Annabeth is so stunning and she’s making those high pitched sounds he had striven to pull from her lips earlier and Percy is a weak man. He has to slow his thrusts to keep from cumming too early and risking his chance to do this with her again.

Annabeth either doesn’t know he’s so close, or she doesn’t care. She fights to be on top once more and wins out again.

She pulls another pillow from the headboard and puts it behind Percy so he’s sitting upright, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

“What? You’re a good kisser.” She says defensively. “Don’t judge.”

“Believe me, not judging.” He responds, proud of the way his voice is only slightly wrecked before she surges forward and starts moving impossibly faster than her original pace.

Annabeth chases her own orgasm with reckless abandon, and Percy is just along for the ride. He tries to edge her closer to it with his thumb at her clit, but their bodies are so close and she’s moving so fast and his lungs burn from the kiss and it’s honestly not a surprise that he cums first.

His movements stutter and he breaks their kiss as his muscles freeze up and his breath comes out in pants. Annabeth mercifully slows as he rides out his orgasm, but he can see disappointment flicker in her eyes and knows he can’t let that stand.

Percy presses his lips to hers for a kiss to tell her that this isn’t over before pulling her off of him and sliding down to position his head between her knees. Understanding and surprise cross over her face as he slides his arms around her thighs and pulls her down to his waiting mouth.

She groans as he flicks his tongue across her clit and licks a long stripe after. He knows she was close to her orgasm before, so he leaps at the opportunity to play with her. This is his redemption shot, after all.

“What the fuck…” she breaks off with a moan as he pushes a finger inside of her, “did I say about teasing?”

Percy pulls back from Annabeth fully to look her in the eyes. She looks absolutely disheveled and desperate, completely undermining the malice in her tone.

“Annabeth,” Percy says calmly, “shut up.”

It’s a risky move, and one that wouldn’t pay off if he doesn’t immediately give her what she wants. By the time he lets her near her orgasm again, she’s riding his face and tugging his hair so hard that part of him is afraid she’ll pull it out.

He considers teasing her further, loving looking up to see the state of desire he’s put her in, but she cries out his name along with a string of curses and he can’t stop himself from attacking her center with renewed intensity.

Annabeth’s orgasm slams into her hard and fast. She doubles over Percy with one hand fisted in the sheets and the other still in his hair as it rolls over her in waves. Her legs clench around his head and he doesn’t slow his movements in the slightest until she stops shaking.

God, she’s so fucking gorgeous. She hovers above his face, panting hard as she recovers. Her body glistens with sweat, giving her a stunning post-sex glow as she smiles and laughs breathlessly down at Percy.

The sight of her, chest heaving and eyes sparkling, is too much for Percy. He pushes himself up to kiss her, this time slowing it down and keeping it sweet. Her arms wind around his neck and his hands slide from her thighs to her back, keeping her flush against him in his lap.

Annabeth pulls back to examine him critically. He’s not sure what she’s searching for, but she seems to find it, nodding and pulling him back in. 

It’s that nod that gives Percy the guts to say what he says next.

“We should do this again.” He says against her lips.

Annabeth stiffens and uses his shoulders to push herself back. Fear shoots through Percy until he sees her lips quirk up in an amused smile.

“Oh, really?” She muses. “And how do you propose we do that, captain?”

There was that word again; it seems to be following him around tonight, determined to ruin his attempts to escape it. Percy turns his head to the side to avoid looking at her. He was stupid, so stupid to think that following Annabeth would be an exception to that. If anything, he’d only made matters worse for himself— for both of them.

But then gentle fingertips slip along his jaw and pull his gaze back to her. “Because I want to, but we need to talk about a few things first.” Annabeth presses kisses along his jaw and trails down to his neck, wiping all thoughts of captainship from his mind.

“Like what?” He tries to keep his voice level and control his breathing.

“Like rules. I’m not in a place for a relationship, and even if I was, the team has to come first.”

Percy fights to focus on her words and nothing else that her lips are doing. “Team first. Gotcha.” He pulls her off of his neck. “I’m not going to be able to focus with you all over me like that.”

She grins. “No visible hickeys. That shit isn’t gonna fly in the locker room. Piper would eat me alive.”

He nods. “Anything else?”

“No spending the night?”

 “Really? I can always tell Jason I’m visiting my mom for the night, but he’ll start to wonder if I come home late all the time.”

“Good point. No waking up together then.”

Percy feels himself pull a face at that, but he wipes his features blank before she sees it. It’s not an unreasonable request. “Also probably shouldn’t tell anyone on the team.”

“Neither of us need that.” She stretches her arms behind his head and lets them rest on his shoulders. He sees a thought cross her mind and watches her struggle to articulate it. It comes out bluntly. “No kissing outside of sex.” This time her voice is firm instead of suggestive. “You’re far too good at it.” 

Percy tries to play off the ego boost that gives him while simultaneously struggling with the rule. It’s his least favorite of the ones so far. He’s waited months to kiss Annabeth; he hates the idea of having to limit his time doing it.

“Would you prefer I was bad at it?” He teases, leaning forward so that his lips hover an inch from hers.

Annabeth locks her hands behind his head and gives into the temptation. Percy can’t help the way he smiles into it. “That’s one rule broken.” He says between kisses.

“It’s cute that you think I’m not planning on having sex again tonight.” One of her hands threads through his hair while the other explores his back. “Okay,” she pulls away, “stop distracting me. Last rule. We need to be honest about shit.”

“Shit?” He raises an eyebrow.

“You know. Feelings and all that.”

“So articulate.” 

“Fuck off, you know what I mean. I’m not about to break that no relationships rule. This has to stay strictly friends with benefits. Casual. We have to tell each other if we start getting feelings. Is that alright with you?” She shifts closer to his lips and waits for his answer.

Percy swallows. “Yeah, I’m casual. I can do casual. Totally casual.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> **I wanna lie awake with your black soul**  
>  **Count your fears if you let me.**  
>  **Baby I just want your damn bad intentions.**  
>  **I've got some damn bad intentions.**  
>   
> 
> 
> Emma and I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read so far! We got so much amazing feedback from the first chapter which makes us so beyond excited to move forward with this story. Based off our current pace, expect a new update every few weeks as we are extremely busy college students and we both have our own individual works other than this. But overall this is our baby and writing it is so much fun, so I can guarantee each wait between updates will hurt us as much as it hurts you. Again, thank you guys so much!  
> Songs for this chapter are No Friend // Paramore, Dark Side of Your Room // All Time Low (Jason) and Bad Intentions // Niykee Heaton (Percy)  
> 


	3. They Only Know What You Let Them See

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  **I care about you**   
>  **There's nowhere I'd rather be**   
>  **Than right here right now**   
>  **I care, care about you**   
>  **There's nowhere I'd rather be**   
> 

“You told her you’re casual? Percy, you are literally the least casual person I’ve ever met.” 

“I know, Grover, I was just so caught up in everything and I _really_ don’t want to screw this up. I’m so fucked.” 

Grover’s sigh is audible from his end of the call while he struggles to find words. Truth is, Percy’s having just as hard of a time articulating his thoughts as he paces around the apartment waiting for Jason to get home. 

He’s not breaking a rule by telling Grover. He and Annabeth agreed no _teammates_. He’d been careful with the wording on that one, because there’s no way that he can keep this to himself. If sex wasn’t involved, he’d already have told his mom, too. 

There’s an obviously false sense of confidence in Grover’s voice when he speaks. “You know what? You’re going to do this. You’re going to keep having emotionless sex with this girl like a true man of your word. You are _not_ going to fall for her, and you are _not_ going to break this mysterious no dating rule.” 

“You’re literally the worst liar I’ve ever met. You’re in another country and I can still tell you’re doing that thing with your hands.” 

There’s a bit of shuffling on the line and then Grover’s voice wavers just enough that it betrays him. “What thing with my hands? I don’t have a thing.” 

Percy lets them sit in silence for a moment. 

“Okay, I’m doing the thing! How you know that is scary and, like, borderline stalkerish if I do say so myself, but that’s not the point. I’m worried about you, Perce. The way you talk about this girl… I just don’t want to see anything bad happen to you. You’re in a tough enough spot with school and the team. Is this going to add to that?” 

Percy tries to stifle his frustration. “No, we already agreed that the team comes first. If something happens that gets in the way of the team, we’re going to call it off before anything bad happens. This wasn’t some rash decision, we really did talk about it.” 

“And what if you don’t call it off until the damage is done? What if she calls it off once you get feelings and it affects everything anyway?” 

“It won’t.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

Percy picks up a pen from the counter and fidgets with it. “I won’t let it. I’m not going to risk messing any of this up. If I get feelings, I’ll walk away myself. She won’t even have to do it.” 

“When have you ever been able to walk away from someone? Please, give me _one_ good example and I’ll shut up about this forever.” 

Percy’s mouth opens and closes as he searches for a response and realizes Grover has him on this. “Alright, fair point. What am I gonna do?” 

“I don’t know, man. I want to tell you to get out of there while you can, but I know you aren’t going to. I don’t see any way out but forward.” This time Grover lets Percy sit in silence until he finds something to say. 

Except there’s absolutely nothing coming to mind. All he can see when he closes his eyes is Annabeth with her head thrown back on the pillow and her eyes closed. Or open and staring straight back into his with an intensity that makes his bones melt. Or the way she’d looked at him with her back to her door, all fire and focus— 

“Hello? Earth to Percy?” Grover brings Percy crashing back to reality. “What’re you thinking about?” 

“...nothing.” 

“You were thinking about last night, weren’t you?” 

“How can I _not_ , G-Man? Annabeth is something else. And when I was with her, even when we weren’t having sex, I felt… freer? Is that a thing? It feels like everything is so set in stone right now, but this is something separate from all that. I don’t have feelings, and I know I could—” he rolls his eyes at Grover’s huff— “but right now I’m just looking for something easy. And I think this is that.” 

“Easy? We’ve spent the last forty-five minutes talking about your inner conflicts over this _easy_ , _casual_ relationship? If this is easy, I do _not_ want to know what you think is complicated.” A door closes on Grover’s end and Percy can hear Juniper entering in the background. “Hey, June, Percy is on the phone!” Grover calls. “She says hi and that you should call more.” 

“Okay, mom. Tell her I say hi too.” 

“Percy is having girl problems.” Grover stage whispers to his girlfriend. 

“I am not— ugh. Okay, maybe a little.”

“Aha!” Percy can almost see the way Grover jumps up at his words. 

“I’m just worried. What if I fuck everything up? Like how am I supposed to keep this from Jason? We live together and we’re co-captains; it’s not like I can avoid him. But he and Annabeth dislike each other enough. I don’t need to add to that.” Despite his efforts to stay calm, Percy’s words tumble out of his mouth before he can think them through. The weight of them settles in the living room and on the line too. “Why did you have to go abroad this year?” Percy complains. “I’d kill to have you here right now.” 

“I know it’s tough, but you can get through this. You just have to-” 

The lock jiggles, announcing Jason’s return home. Percy whispers a rushed ‘ _goodbye_ ’ and ‘ _talk to you soon_ ’ into the phone and hangs up abruptly. 

He’d been careful to get up early enough to beat Jason back home. That also meant waking up before Annabeth (hooray for following rules) and tearing himself away from her and her bed. Percy tries to push _that_ image out of his head as Jason crosses the threshold and closes the door behind him. 

“Good to see you got the dick off your forehead.” Percy jokes. 

Jason jumps and looks like a deer in headlights when he turns to face Percy. His face is a deep shade of pink as his hand creeps up to touch the spot where the Sharpie had been last night. He clears his throat. “Um, yeah. How bad were the pictures?”

At least Percy isn’t the most awkward person in the room. “Pretty bad, lots of group shots. Wanna see?” He pulls out his phone. 

“No.” Jason replies immediately. He shakes his head as if to clear it. “So you got home alright? No problems walking home or anything?” 

A mental image of Annabeth at the edge of the driveway enters Percy’s head before he can push it down. He hopes his voice isn’t as high as it feels when he answers. “Nope. You? How was the drive?” 

It’s Jason’s turn to act strange. His blush creeps down to his neck as his hand reaches up to scratch the back of his head. “It was fine. Pretty much everyone was asleep when I woke up, so I didn’t get too much trouble for… you know.” He gestures to his forehead. 

“Who else was up?” 

“Huh?” 

“You said pretty much everyone, so I was wondering who else was awake with you.” 

“Oh, um. Piper.” 

“Piper?” Percy feels a grin slide onto his face, and suddenly Jason’s still-deepening blush makes perfect sense. “How’d that go? I saw the way you two looked at each other last night.” 

Jason pulls a face at that. “She was just being nice, and I was way too drunk. Besides, no dating. That rule exists for a reason, so I can’t go there even if I want to.” The tone of his voice says he’s serious. 

Ouch. Percy’s initial temptation to tell Jason about last night all but disappears at that. There had been a part of Percy that had hoped they’d be in the same boat here—just so he’d have someone who understood what’s going on—but that doesn’t seem to be the case. 

But Jason would never pursue a friends with benefits situation like this, no matter how much he wants to be with Piper. Percy isn’t an idiot; he knows Jason well enough to know when he’s got a crush, and this is it. The blush, the awkward pauses, the way he avoids eye contact. All the dead giveaways. 

Except for the fact that Jason seems firm in his decision to squash those feelings. He’s putting the team first, something Percy also promised to do. Jason is just better at keeping his promises. And being captain, it seems. 

“Percy?” Jason waves a hand at Percy and snaps him out of it. 

“Yeah, sorry. It’s all good, man. Just a little out of it from last night.” 

“You and me both.” Jason chuckles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Maybe he’s finding pushing down his feelings as difficult as Percy is. “Well,” he says, his eyes darting around the room, “I’m gonna go lay down for a while. My head is still pounding. I’ll see you later Perce.” And with that, Jason turns his back and walks into his bedroom, leaving Percy sitting on the couch and in his feelings.

* * *

When Jason wakes up the morning after the victory party, the only thing he can comprehend is how much his head hurts. He groans beneath his breath, blinking heavily as his eyes flutter open. The sunlight flooding in through the windows makes his headache infinitely worse, and he lifts his hand in a vain attempt to block the light from streaming onto his face. It doesn’t work and he’s forced to accept his hangover as he sits up, sore from not only yesterday’s game but also from sleeping on the couch.

He turns his head to see several people passed out throughout the living room. Ethan and Lee are stretched out in front of the TV, each sound asleep with a pillow wedged beneath both their heads. Their backs are turned to each other so they’re not spooning, but the sight is funny enough to make Jason crack a smile. Connor is on the ground beside the couch, Travis beside him. It’s their house and they’re on the floor, which makes Jason assume that someone else passed out in their beds before they could get there. Someone is passed out on the dining room table and it’s only when Jason sees the long brown hair that he realizes it’s Katie Gardner.

He’s pretty calm with the whole ordeal until he sees who’s curled up in the armchair beside the couch.

Piper’s fast asleep in the armchair, her legs curled up against her body, one arm tucked against her chest and the other one bent at an odd angle, serving as some sort of pillow for her head, which is resting sideways. Her hair is an absolute mess, the braid practically undone yet still held together by the elastic at the bottom. She doesn’t look comfortable by any means, especially her arm, but that doesn’t affect how she’s sleeping. Her breathing is heavy, inhaling through her nose and exhaling in little puffs out of her mouth. The sound is cute, he thinks, and then he feels weird for thinking something as natural as breathing can be cute. But it’s Piper, and although he hates thinking it, he’s definitely more inclined to being convinced that her actions are cuter than those of an average person. He wants to go over and brush the hair out of her face and adjust her so she looks more comfortable, but he can’t. Just the sight of her is dizzying; a touch would wreck him.

As he carefully attempts to get up, trying to avoid the Stolls next to him, he can hear shifting from the armchair. He holds his breath, afraid to be the reason someone is waking up. Especially if it’s who he thinks it is.

“Where’s my shoe?” Piper’s voice is heavy with sleep, rough around the edges. Her arm is red from being bent at that awkward angle, but she doesn’t seem too concerned. She’s staring at her foot— she only has a black sock on while her other foot is clad with her Van. He’s not sure who she’s talking to until she looks up at him. He’s about to answer her when her eyes widen and a huge smile forms on her face and she looks like she’s trying hard not to burst out laughing. “Uh, Jason?”

“What?”

“There’s, uh, a…” She chokes back her laughter, voice hushed since the room was filled with their sleeping teammates. “You have a… piece of art on your forehead.”

“A piece of art?” He’s confused, too hungover and tired to understand what she’s alluding to.

“There’s a dick drawn on your forehead.”

His face suddenly heats up and he can’t look at her. Of course someone drew a dick on his forehead when he fell asleep. _Of course_. He’s almost positive that Leo’s responsible and he wonders where his friend is sleeping so he can chew him out. First Leo made that obnoxious joke about dropping panties after the game, and now he’s drawn a dick on Jason’s forehead. He probably wouldn’t be so bothered if it wasn’t in front of Piper, but naturally she’s witness to both acts.

“That’s… great.” Embarrassment seeps into his words and he hopes Piper doesn’t see that he’s blushing. “Nice. Classic.”

She’s still giggling under her breath and he wishes he wasn’t humiliated so he can soak in the sound of her laugh. She stands carefully, rubbing her temples for a moment before gesturing to him. “Come on, captain. I’ll help you wash it off.”

He’s already embarrassed enough since there’s a dick drawn in Sharpie on his forehead and now the girl he finds outrageously attractive is nice enough to help him wash it off. He wishes he can go bury himself in the backyard or go back in time and prevent himself from getting so drunk to avoid this entire situation. Unfortunately he had taken shots to try to take his mind off of Piper, which ultimately backfired since here she is, following behind him as he leads her into the bathroom.

“Jesus.” Jason wants to die of embarrassment right there as he stares in the mirror. Leo went all out, drawing a decently accurate penis above his eyebrows. Somehow Jason had managed to smudge it during his sleep and he’s worried that it won’t come off.

Piper laughs softly again, shutting the door behind her. She turns on the warm water and grabs a clean washcloth from the cupboard beside the tub. “Sit down,” she orders as she sifts through the medicine cabinet to find face wash. He sits on the closed toilet, staring down at his feet in an effort to evaporate right then and there.

 _God, take me now,_ he thinks as he hears her stick the washcloth beneath the running water.

And then Piper is right in front of Jason, crouching down so she’s eye level with him. Even though she looks exhausted and her elastic has fallen out so now her hair falls down her back in an absolute mess, he’s convinced she’s the prettiest person he has ever laid his eyes on. She smiles, lifting the washcloth to his forehead. She gently scrubs against the Sharpie and he closes his eyes, focusing on keeping his breathing even as her warm fingertips brush against his chin to keep his head steady as she tries to wash the dick off his skin.

Maybe waking up to a dick drawn on his forehead isn’t the worst thing in the world considering that she offered to help him take off the drawing. She smells nice and her hands are soft and he wants to melt against her touch.

After only a few minutes, she pulls away and his eyes open. She looks pleased and stands up straight, setting the washcloth on the counter. “Done,” she says triumphantly. “It’s gone. I wish I can say the same about the memory of it, but I heard plenty of people got pictures.”

He groans lightly, standing up as he shakes his head. “Could’ve been worse. Thank you.”

“Not a problem.” She leans against the counter and he realizes how close they are. The bathroom is only so big and she’s so close that he can feel her body heat radiate off her.

“I need to take some Advil,” he says quickly, moving to brush past her, but the bathroom isn’t large enough for him to do so. He instead runs into her and she’s even closer. His heart leaps into his throat and he hopes that she can’t see how flustered he is.

Luckily she’s a good sport, patting his arm as she laughs. “Easy there, captain,” she warns him. She reaches behind her and opens the door, stepping out into the hallway before him. “I’ll join you. I’ve got a raging headache too.”

He’s not sure if he’d rather her keep a distance or to continue following him.

He walks into the kitchen and hears her footsteps pattering behind him, unable to keep from smiling at the sound of one sock and one shoe alternating against the tile. The kitchen is a mess, the bottles still scattered along the counter. He reaches into the cabinet filled with their medications, pushing past the allergy pills to find the small white bottle of Advil. As he opens the bottle, Piper finds a Gatorade in the fridge. She looks grateful as he hands her two pills, chasing them down with the Gatorade before handing the bottle to him. The taste is a shock since it’s the first thing he’s taken this morning but it’s better than the faint taste of tequila from the previous night.

“I still need to find my fucking shoe,” Piper mutters, eyes scanning the kitchen. She then makes her way into the dining room, careful not to bump the dining room table since Katie is sprawled across it. “If you were a shoe, where would you be?”

Jason feels like he has to laugh as she crawls under the table, sifting through the red cups. He decides to search with her, walking through the kitchen and dining room. His eyes drift to her and he sees that she’s already looking up at him. Heat rises to his face, traveling all the way to the tips of his ears.

_Stop it. You’re captain and this clearly isn’t allowed._

But what _is_ allowed? It’s not like he’s actively pursuing after her; he’s convinced she’s not even interested in him anyways. And even if he finds her cute, he’s unsure of how exactly he feels about her. They’re teammates and he doesn’t know if they’re friends or not. They make a point to talk to each other at each practice, but he doesn’t know anything substantial about her. He knows from the team roster that she’s a sophomore like him and that’s about it. She plays hockey and she’s like a missile on the ice. He tries to think of things he may know about her and draws blanks. She’s pretty and witty and has a smile that could stop his heart and he wants to sit down and talk about life with her. That scares the shit out of him; he’s never been so infatuated with anyone like this before.

As if she suddenly remembers something from the night before, she stands up, eyes wide. Since everyone in the house is still asleep, she whisper-yells, “Leo said something about the freezer after he took my shoe.”

Since Jason is closest to the kitchen, he goes to the freezer and opens the door. He sees frozen chicken nuggets and ice cream and a giant box of popsicles. A black Van is between the popsicles and chicken nuggets. He reaches inside the freezer and fishes the shoe out, the laces covered with little ice crystals.

“That piece of shit.” Piper seemingly appears beside Jason and he nearly jumps. Her voice isn’t serious and he can hear the smile in her tone. “I don’t know why he felt the need to do that.”

“Leo’s interesting,” he replies gently, surprised at how collected he sounds. Nothing about him is collected right now. When he hands the shoe to her, their fingers brush and he feels volts of electricity run through his arm as they touch. 

There’s no way she can’t feel the buzz between them.

She seems unbothered by the energy he thinks he feels, bending down to slip on her shoe. She doesn’t seem affected by the fact her shoe was in the freezer for hours, leaving the laces untied. “Thanks for helping me. I would’ve been pretty bummed if I didn’t find my shoe.”

“I’m sure it would’ve been discovered sooner or later.”

Her lips twitch up into a smile. “Walking back home with one shoe would be a new low, even for me.”

For some reason, the idea of her walking home alone doesn’t settle right with him. He likes to think it’s because he’s a caring person, but there’s a part of him he’s trying to ignore that’s insisting he’s only so bothered by it because it’s her. “You shouldn’t go home alone,” he complains.

She arches her eyebrows. “It’s morning. I won’t get kidnapped in broad daylight. I am also fully capable of getting home safe, captain.”

It’s meant to be a joke, but the thought of someone doing anything to her makes him feel hot all over. He can practically see red at this point and he has to swallow the sudden lump in his throat to try and mash the sudden emotion down.

“I’ll drive you home,” he insists firmly.

She looks like she wants to refuse but doesn’t. Even if she tries to refuse, he still fully intends to make sure she gets home safely. He grabs his wallet and keys from the table beside the front door, the place he had set them last night, before carefully opening the door. He allows Piper to step outside first before clicking the door shut quietly in an attempt to keep the team asleep. As he approaches his car, he wonders for a second if he should open the car door for her. Then again, she’s more than capable of opening the door for herself. If anything, _she_ should be opening the door for _him_.

They’re quiet as they get in. He makes it a point not to look at her, afraid that this new sense of privacy will cause him to do something dumb and embarrass himself. He starts the engine and allows it to warm up; the morning air is a little brisker than he’s used to since autumn is in full force. Even when he turns on the heater, he’s a little colder than usual so he reaches into the backseat and hastily yanks his hockey crew neck over his head. When he settles against the seat and buckles his seatbelt, he glances over and sees that she’s playing with the bracelet on her wrist.

“I live close to downtown,” she tells him gently. “In the apartment complex across the street from the park.”

It shouldn’t excite him when he realizes that Piper lives only a few blocks away from him, but he feels his heart rate pick up fractionally.

“Do you live with Annabeth?” he asks casually as he pulls away from the curb.

“Nah. We’re good friends, but she needs her own space. Both of us are our own kinds of messy. If we lived in the same place, she’d flip out on me for disrupting her ‘ _organized mess_ ’.” She does air quotes as she says that, which makes Jason laugh. 

“How did you and Annabeth get so close?” He’s genuinely curious about this but he also wants to know if the blonde gave Piper hell when they first met.

Piper grins. “During our first practice, Clarisse was coming after me. She tried to push me around and I wasn’t having it. I ended up pushing her back and Annabeth was so impressed that she took me under her wing. She’s practically been my best friend since.”

So Piper didn’t have a problem winning Annabeth over. Jason tries to hide his disappointment over not discovering new information by asking, “Do you have any roommates?”

“I live with Reyna. Speaking of Reyna, she probably thinks I’m blacked out in a ditch again.”

He looks over at her as he hits a red light. “Excuse me?”

“Long story.” She smiles sheepishly at him. “Freshman year hazing. Nyssa and I were the only two freshmen on the team last year so we got it pretty bad. Nyssa was throwing up all night and I ended up in a ditch. Reyna found me and she won’t let me live it down.”

It sounds so ridiculous that he can’t help but to laugh again. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was. She shouldn’t be too worried since it’s still morning. But if I were to stay a few more hours, she’d probably go check every ditch in town to make sure I’m not there.”

He has to physically bite his lip to hide his smile from her.

“What’s your major?” The question is casual, her voice even as she speaks. “I haven’t seen you in any of my classes.”

“Political science.”

“Huh.”

His eyes flicker to her thoughtful face for a moment. “What?”

“No, nothing. Wasn’t what I was expecting but I can definitely see it.”

The tone of her voice makes him realize that she’s subtly impressed. That makes him feel good about himself. He fills the temporary silence by asking, “What about you?”

“Psychology.” In his peripheral vision he can see that she’s shrugging. “Pre-med emphasis.”

“That’s impressive.”

Jason hates small talk. Getting to know the nitty gritty details of someone requires awkward conversations but he wants to dive right into the personal questions. He wants to know Piper’s goals and why she loves hockey and what her favorite color is and what type of music she listens to and ask her why she’s always playing with her silver bracelet, though he’s sure if he rattles off questions with the things he actually wants to know about her, she’ll _really_ be uninterested in him.

By the time he thinks he has a question to ask her, he sees the park to his left and a nice apartment complex to his right. “This is me,” Piper confirms and he pulls over to the curb. It’s a Saturday morning and there are a decent amount of people milling around; it is a college town after all and the farmer’s market is downtown. He almost wants to ask her if she wants to go but she’s probably just as hungover as he is, and if all he wants to do is sleep, he can only imagine how tired she is. “Jason?”

“Yeah?” He locks eyes with her as she unbuckles her seatbelt.

“Thanks for the ride.” She smiles kindly and opens her car door. “I would’ve been fine by myself but walking a mile when hungover isn’t an ideal way to start my morning. Trust me, I would know.”

He laughs and he watches her get out of the car. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind and I’ll do it again if I have to.”

Her eyes are shining as she smiles back at him. “I’ll hold you to that,” she promises teasingly and shuts the door behind her. He doesn’t even realize that he’s watching her go until after she disappears behind a corner.

 _I’ll hold you to that._ Jason isn’t a party fan and despises hangovers but a part of him hopes that the Stolls throw another party just so he has an excuse to drive her home again. He has to fight back his smile all the way to his apartment and try to play it off to Percy because there’s no way he’s telling his roommate that he drove Piper home.

* * *

Jason doesn’t have the courage to talk to Piper until almost a week after the party.

It’s silly, he knows this, as he spends the week following the party staring at her shamelessly. He’s distracted, sure, but doesn’t allow it to disrupt his game. The second he stops being able to block pucks is when Percy would catch on. And he really doesn’t want Percy to catch on. Not yet, at least.

One practice, however, he notices that something’s wrong.

Usually he and Percy are the first ones to arrive at the arena. They make it a point to get there early to warm up with each other— they’re captains and playing by themselves relieves some of that tension. Since Jason has so much gear to put on, they take a little longer than most players in the locker room. By the time they exit and head towards the ice, he can see someone already skating around. It isn’t until he sees the dark brown braid that he knows who it is.

Percy’s eyes immediately flash to Jason. “Why is Piper here so early?” he whispers. “Before us? Before _Annabeth_?”

“I don’t know.” Jason shakes his head. “Why do you think I’d know?”

“You two seem to be friends.” Percy’s voice is quizzical and Jason wonders for a second if his friend has a suspicion about the two of them or is just genuinely curious. “Should we ask what’s up?”

Jason wants to confirm their friendship yet he has a feeling if he explicitly confirms it, Percy would figure out Jason’s crush. He shrugs, sitting on the bench to put on his skates. “Maybe she just wanted to get a head start,” he suggests, completely avoiding the comment about them being friends.

Percy doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t say anything about it.

When the boys hit the ice, Piper is snapped from her reverie. She looks up, sweat dripping down her face beneath her helmet. She pulls off her helmet, her mouth guard swinging from its strap. Her hair is matted down from the sweat and there’s something off about her. Usually she’s in a good mood even during strenuous drills, but now there’s not even a trace of a smile on her lips.

“Uh, hey,” Percy greets, lifting his helmet up to talk to her without the visor blocking his face. “Didn’t expect to see you here this early.”

“Sorry.” Her apology, while sincere, is clipped. “Just thought I’d practice a little more today. I’ll stay out of your way.”

“I didn’t mean it—” Percy doesn’t even get his sentence out before she shoves her helmet back on and skates off. He turns to Jason, confused, and mutters dryly, “Still think she just wants a head start?”

Jason doesn’t answer.

Piper doesn’t recover from her bad mood during practice. As Percy works on offensive drills, Jason watches as she skates a little more aggressively than usual, snapping the puck into the net past Jake Mason with an unexplainable force. When they scrimmage later on, she checks Malcolm so hard that he’s sent into the glass. He’s unaffected but looks just as confused as Jason feels when she skates away without so much as apologizing for the excessive aggression. The only people who seem unfazed by her mood are Annabeth and Reyna. Jason sees Annabeth squeeze the brunette’s shoulder through the padding as they sit down for a water break, whispering something that makes Piper shake her head. A part of Jason wishes that he was the one checking on her, but he’s scared to intrude on her privacy.

After practice ends and Jason finishes cleaning up. Freshly showered and dressed, he walks out of the locker room. He’s the last one out, which isn’t out of the ordinary since his process of removing his gear is extraneous in comparison to his teammates. Percy has a midterm to study for and heads out right when he finishes showering so Jason heads out alone, doing a final sweep of the arena to make sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be.

He sees someone sitting in the bleachers and he’d be lying to himself if he says that he doesn’t hope that it’s Piper.

As he approaches the bleachers, he recognizes Piper’s voice immediately. Her hair is wet from the showers and she’s wearing her hockey sweatshirt. _MCLEAN 14_ is written in big letters on her back, shoulders hunched. Her athletic bag lays at her feet, her helmet resting on top carelessly. Since there’s no one else in the arena, he assumes that she’s talking on the phone.

“—understand, you said you’d come to at least one game,” she’s saying as Jason walks near. “You promised!” Her voice is shaky and he stops in his tracks. He knows that he’s intruding on a very private conversation and his blood seems to freeze inside of him. She stops talking for a few moments before sighing. “No, no, Dad, I’m _completely_ fine. Yeah. It’s not like you promised to come to one of my games this season after you missed _every single one_ last season. It’s not like being on the men’s team is important to me or anything. I’m only one of the six girls on the team. But it’s fine. Keep picking your career over me. I get it.”

Jason watches as she lowers her phone from her ear, hanging up abruptly without so much as bidding her father goodbye. He’s still frozen in place, unsure of what to do now. She’s evidently upset and although he doesn’t know her relationship with her father, he’d be an idiot if he didn’t sense the hostility in her tone while speaking on the phone. As Jason contemplates walking over to her, he watches as she begins to play with the bracelet on her wrist. Whenever she seems on edge, he notices that she touches the bracelet, a small observation that somehow makes him feel as though he knows her a little better than he actually does.

“Are you just gonna stand there, captain?” Piper turns her head in Jason’s direction and he sees that her eyes are red. Even though she usually calls him captain teasingly, there’s an edge to the way she says it now that makes his heart beat harder.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he apologizes hurriedly. “I—I didn’t think anyone else was still here. I was just about to head out.”

“It’s okay.” Her voice is thick and she stares out at the ice. “Sorry you had to hear that.”

He edges closer, not wanting to pressure her. “Are you okay?” he asks timidly.

“Yeah. Just peachy.” She laughs and the noise is brittle. He’s close enough now to see that she’s not currently crying but her red eyes deceive her. “Everything’s great. I’m great. Just another day of my dad picking his career over me, his own flesh and blood. I’m fine.”

Jason feels stupid for asking. He finally builds the courage to slide onto the bleachers beside her, careful to leave a respectful distance between the two of them. He stares out at the ice as well, struggling to find something to say. He doesn’t know her situation and he feels as though the lack of information renders him useless if he were to try to comfort her. But he can’t just walk away now that he’s beside her. He’d rather struggle to understand than leave her in the arena to cry.

“What does your dad do for a living?” He figures it couldn’t hurt to ask if her dad’s career prevents him from seeing her play.

Jason can feel Piper’s eyes on him before he turns his head to look at her. For some reason she’s grinning; it’s hardly there but it’s something. “I’m surprised that you didn’t recognize the last name.”

He doesn’t understand her comment. Should her last name mean anything to him? His mind spins for a moment and nothing comes to mind. “Uh, should I recognize it?”

She stays silent for a moment, looking at him with a guarded look in her eyes. Finally she says, “My dad’s Tristan McLean. You know, lead actor in _King of Sparta_. Ironic really, considering that Eastview’s mascot is a Spartan. Dad thought that was really funny since he’s known for playing the role of a Spartan and now I’m one but—” Her voice breaks and she falls silent. He doesn’t press her for more information, staying quiet until she whispers, “He promised to try this season. He didn’t come to any of my games last season. _None_ of them. I was a starter as a freshman and he couldn’t be bothered to show up. Now he’s off to film another movie and he said he’ll be too busy to watch me this season too.” She laughs again and the sound is wobbly and it doesn’t sit well with Jason. He worries that she’ll start to cry in front of him and even though he shouldn’t care this much, he starts thinking of ways he can cheer her up. “He gave me this charm bracelet after last season to make up for him never showing up. I wonder what he’ll buy me this time around.”

Even though she sounds bitter over a bracelet as an apology, Jason sees that she’s rubbing it again. She may be angry, but it obviously means a lot to her.

He stares back out the ice. He’s not one to spill personal information to someone he’s only just beginning to be friends with, but he feels compelled to say something. A surface area comment wouldn’t ease her mind, this he knows. Plus there’s something about her that makes him want to delve deeper. He pushes the guilt forming in his stomach (he doesn’t know why he feels so guilty since he’s just being friendly) and decides to go for it. 

“My family doesn’t come to watch me either,” he says quietly. “I don’t talk to my parents. My childhood wasn’t the greatest, you know? My parents weren’t really equipped to have a kid, let alone two. When my sister turned eighteen, she took me in. My parents didn’t even care.” He swallows back the inevitable lump that forms in his throat and tries to keep his voice steady. “Thalia’s busy with her own life and she doesn’t live close so she can’t come watch me play. She saw two games last season. My dad came to one and my mom didn’t come to any. It bugs me, especially since Percy’s family comes to almost every home game we have. But I know that Thalia cares about me and loves me even if she can’t watch me play. Just because your dad is busy doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you.”

Piper falls silent and she doesn’t move when Jason finishes talking. He averts his gaze from the ice to her and she’s completely still, her fingers frozen on her bracelet. Maybe his response isn’t what she wants to hear. His heart is beating in his ears and he can practically hear his blood pulsing. He hates feeling this anxious while waiting for her reply because he knows for a fact if this was anyone else, he wouldn’t care half as much.

She finally turns to him, lips pressed together as if she’s suppressing a smile. “I didn’t know that about you.”

“I didn’t know that your dad’s a movie star.”

“Nobody does.” She shakes her head lightly. “He shielded me from the media pretty well. Only Annabeth and Reyna know. Well, and Hedge, but that’s just because he’s friends with my dad.”

“No wonder Hedge yelled at Connor for pushing you yesterday.”

Piper laughs softly and Jason’s stomach flutters. As if it’s the most natural thing in the world, she reaches over and grabs his hand, squeezing it. Her hand is tiny compared to his and it’s warm and he hopes that she can’t feel his skin blazing. “Thank you,” she murmurs. “I just…” She clears her throat and her brown eyes are so warm that he feels as though he can melt into them. “Thank you so much, Jason. This means a lot to me. Not everyone would care as much as you do.”

He’s scared that his hand is clammy in hers but even if it is, she doesn’t comment on it. “You’re welcome,” he responds softly. He doesn’t want to pull away but he does, standing up and shouldering his bag. “Are you heading out?”

“I think I’m gonna sit and think for a little more.” She smiles and the sight is enough to make him want to collapse in a puddle of adoration. “Thank you, though. I’ll see you tomorrow, captain.”

“Yeah. See you.” As he walks away, he has to fight to not look over his shoulder. If he looks back he’s not exactly sure he’ll be able to maintain his composure.

Once Jason’s back in the safety of his car, he exhales and he feels the guilt all over again. It’s not like he’s broken a rule; he had comforted a teammate. That was it. He certainly isn’t in the midst of forming a relationship with her. Yet he knows himself too well to deny that he’s developing feelings for her and they’re only growing the more he sees her. This is ultimately a problem since they’re on the same hockey team and that requires seeing her nearly every day.

Chiron’s warning echoes in his head again: _no romantic relationships should occur between two team members_.

Jason is so fucked because although this isn’t a relationship, he definitely has romantic feelings for Piper that don’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Some captain he is. Annabeth, as per usual, is right— he doesn’t deserve to be captain, especially since he can’t follow one simple rule.

* * *

Halloween is one of Percy’s favorite holidays. Hockey season is just kicking off, finals are far away, and the weather is finally verging on cold. And there’s always Rachel’s massive Halloween party. Really, the whole holiday is gloriously stress free. 

There are a few things to stress about this year. 

Jason comes stumbling out of his room with his Captain America costume hanging off his torso. “A hand?” He asks. 

“Was that an amputee pun?” Percy says, pulling on his Winter Soldier sleeve.

“You know what? I got it.” Jason says with a huff. He shoves his arms into the costume and attempts to do the zipper himself, but ends up getting horribly stuck with it halfway up his back. 

“Okay, point taken. Come here.” Percy zips Jason into his costume and slaps his back. “Good to go, Captain.” 

Jason rolls his eyes. “Is the whole night going to be like this? We’re two puns in and I’m ready for a drink.” 

“Ha ha.” Percy narrows his eyes at Jason. His phone dings and he extracts it from the hidden pocket hidden in his vest. “That’s Frank. He’s waiting outside. You ready?” 

“As ready as I’m gonna be. I haven’t gotten drunk since the first party, so we’ll see how this goes.” 

“Wow, two times in one month. That dick on the forehead really traumatized you, huh?” 

Jason freezes and gives Percy a tired look. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”

“Nope.” Percy steps forward and throws his arm around Jason’s shoulders. “Absolutely not.” After a few steps toward the door, Jason shrugs off Percy’s arm with an eye roll that’s too fond to hold any weight. 

Together they walk to Frank’s waiting SUV, where he sits inside. Jason calls shotgun as soon as the car comes into sight, so Percy climbs into the backseat. They talk on the way to Rachel’s (Frank is in a bear onesie; there’s a lot to talk about), but Percy’s brain is too cluttered for him to participate in the conversation. Thoughts of responsibility— and, admittedly, Annabeth— and all that could go wrong at this party sit at the forefront of his mind. 

Halloween at Rachel’s could be, for a lack of a better word, _messy_ this year. Of course, it’s been messy in the past, but there were new elements that could take the night from messy to full blown disaster. For instance: if Percy loses control and can’t stay away from Annabeth, there will be a whole house full of eyes to catch them. 

But they could talk, at least. The past month hasn’t been nearly as difficult as Percy expected it to be, aside from the fact that he can’t tell Jason anything. The frequent phone calls to Grover made things easier to handle, and Percy can safely say he isn’t over his head with this one. 

At least not yet. 

For all the trouble she’s given Jason, Annabeth hasn’t been nearly as difficult with Percy. He knows that this is partly an effort to give Jason even more trouble, but part of him hopes it’s because of the time they’re spending together. They’re talking more, both at and outside of practices and games, and Percy would be lying if he said he isn’t enjoying getting to know her. 

So he wipes the fear of getting caught from his mind. They’re _friends_. They’re allowed to hang out at parties. And as long as the people around them are drunk too, keeping a secret shouldn’t be too hard, right? 

Before he knows it, Frank is pulling onto Rachel’s crowded street. Percy feels bad for her neighbors as they search for a place to park; this place is going to be packed. 

“All good?” Frank turns back to look at Percy, who plasters a smile on his face. 

“Yeah, let’s do this thing.” He shoots out of the car before anyone can ask another question. 

They feel the bass pounding in their chests the closer they get to the door; they open it to a wave of sound blasting them in the face.

Rachel’s house is filled to the brim with college students, even more than the two years before. Percy, Jason, and Frank are ambushed after a few step into the entryway. 

Connor and Travis Stoll stumble up to them, solo cups in hand and no costume in sight. 

“Who are you supposed to be?” Jason asks, looking at them quizzically. 

They brandish proudly at their _Hi, my name is:_ stickers, and Percy leans in to see that they each have the opposite twin’s name scrawled there. 

“Nice costumes, you really went all out this year.” Frank says dryly. 

The sarcasm barely registers on the Stoll’s faces as they haul their teammates to the drink station in the kitchen. Before Percy knows it, there’s a drink in his hand and they’re counting down to chug. He shoots an overwhelmed look at Jason before knocking his head back and feeling the alcohol blaze a trail down his throat. 

Leo throws his cup down first, knocking back the hood of his banana suit in celebration. Percy does a double take at that— _banana_ suit. But a second glance confirms his initial impression; Leo is in a 2012 style banana suit. 

Leo makes eye contact with Percy and holds up a threatening finger, slurring his words as he speaks. “Not a word.” 

Percy turns away to Jason with intentions to make a joke about getting here too late when a cheer erupts from the foyer. They end up sharing a concerned glance before dashing out of the kitchen to see what’s going on. 

They stop in their tracks when they see who’s in the foyer. 

Percy can’t help that his eyes find Annabeth first. She’s in a school uniform (Hogwarts, he thinks), and _dear god_. There’s a green tie around her neck and her legs look _amazing_ in that skirt and keeping his hands off of her is going to be even harder than he thought. If he was fucked at the first party before he ever knew how she tasted, how she felt when she moved against him, how— he’s getting carried away. But if he was fucked then, he’s _definitely_ fucked now. 

His chest heats up when she throws her hair over her shoulder to laugh at something Piper said upon entry. Annabeth moves out from behind her friend ( _Jesus_ , she’s in knee socks too) and leads the group of girls away from the door and further into the house. He wrenches his gaze from her legs and glances around at the girls around her as they approach. 

At least he’s not alone in this, he thinks as he spares a glance at Jason, whose Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. And looking at Piper— it’s fair to assume Jason is looking at Piper— Percy can’t blame him for the blush spreading across his face. 

Piper is dressed as Han Solo. Like Han Solo as he appears in the films, not what you’d see in Party City when you look at a female Han Solo costume. The pants are tight (Jason’s eyes definitely dart down to them) and she’s got a holster loose around her hips. She pulls a Nerf gun from it once she’s close, and she flashes a smile at Jason before shooting him in the forehead. 

His face flushes even deeper when the dart sticks to its target; he pulls it off with a chuckle before looking back at her and swallowing hard. She definitely has Hans’ confidence as she grins up at him. 

The others catch up from the kitchen and the foyer, and the team members that are at the party stand together. 

Percy looks around the group, determined to keep his eyes off Annabeth. Reyna is dressed as Wonder Woman (fitting) and giving Leo shit for his costume, which prompts the entire team to join in. 

“It was for a bet!” Leo cries out above them. “Okay Stolls? You got me! You won!” The conversation devolves into an argument that raises the attention of several people from the main room, namely Rachel.

Rachel flies down the hallway in a flurry of blue paint and red hair. She doesn’t slow upon approach, and Percy just has time to make out that she’s painted to look like Van Gogh’s Starry Night before she launches herself at him. 

“Percy!” She exclaims, then pulls back and promptly punches him in the arm. “And _why_ is this the first I’m seeing of you all semester? Don’t tell me you’re too busy now that you’re captain.” 

Percy rubs his arm, unable to help his exasperated smile. “Sorry, Rachel. But, to be fair, look at my teammates.” He gestures to the group next to him. 

Amusement lights up on Rachel’s face at the sight of Leo and the Stolls bickering. She introduces herself to the girls, who return her greeting with relatively equal enthusiasm. Well, except Annabeth. Her eyes narrow at Rachel, and though the look fades almost as quickly as it appears, Percy can’t help but notice it. 

Rachel seems unbothered by the whole thing, turning back to Percy and shrugging her shoulders easily. “Okay, noted. But I fully expect you to catch me up on your hockey antics at some point.” 

“Can do.” Percy nods. 

“But for now all of you—” she glances at Leo and the Stolls, who are still arguing— “ _most_ of you are way too sober right now. Drinks are in the kitchen, alcoholic and not. And there are a few more teammates in the living room. Just let me know if you need anything! And there’s room if anyone needs to stay, no reason to risk a drive home.” 

“Thanks, Rachel.” Percy says. The rest of the group sounds in agreement. 

“To the kitchen?” Piper shoots her Nerf gun at the door where Rachel pointed and sticks a dart to it. 

“To the kitchen!” The group agrees and rushes after her. 

Percy follows behind and weaves his way through the crowded room to keep up. He falls in step next to Frank, who looks slightly overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of everyone around him. 

“You good?” He asks Frank.

“Yeah, just not a lot of sober people here. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.” Frank responds, his shoulders falling slightly. 

Percy sighs with him, feeling the responsibility settle on his shoulders. “Hey, if something goes wrong, come find me. I’m here if you need help, no matter how drunk I get. I’ll sober up if you need me.” 

Frank looks a little lighter after that, which makes the unease in Percy’s stomach settle a bit. “Thanks, I appreciate that.” 

“It’s no problem, really.” Percy says with a slight smile. Frank steps behind him to pass through the kitchen door, and the next hour is a blur to Percy. 

They drink. A _lot_. He can tell that from the burning in his throat and chest, the heat burning through his bloodstream, the sudden sway in his step and slur of his speech. 

Right now, he knows that looking at Annabeth is a terrible idea, so he makes a point of avoiding her eyes. 

It doesn’t prove all that effective though. 

Her eyes burn into him with an intensity that rivals his drinks, but he tries not to meet her gaze. He really tries. 

The one time he does, he swears it’s an accident. He’s turning around to make a joke about the girl shrieking “Party in the USA” at the karaoke bar when suddenly Annabeth is behind him— in front of him, an expectant and challenging look in her eyes. Percy is going to lose that challenge if he looks at her for a moment longer, so he bolts and unashamedly (kind of ashamedly) takes off into the crowd to find Jason. 

Turns out Jason isn’t too hard to find. Percy quite literally runs into him on his way to the bathroom. He recognizes the look of panic on Jason’s face; it’s probably mirrored on his own face night now. 

“Need to get away?” He asks. 

Jason swallows and nods, eyes wide. 

“Karaoke?” 

“Why not?” Jason smiles dryly and follows Percy to the stand just as the girl steps off of the counter and puts down the microphone. 

Whatever dumb thing could come from this is infinitely better than the dumb alternatives running through Percy’s head right now. That is, until people start pulling out their phones. And by people, he means Annabeth and Piper. 

“Percy, you know that if we do this, it’s going everywhere.” 

“Yeah.” Percy nods. “Scared?” 

“Would you believe it if I said no?” 

“Not one bit.” 

Percy can’t stop his laugh. “Glad we’re on the same page.” He offers the iPad with the song selection to Jason, who scrolls through with determined purpose. “I can’t believe you.” He rolls his eyes when Jason tilts the screen towards him for his approval. 

“Is that a yes?” Jason lifts an eyebrow. 

“Of course it’s a yes.” 

The whole house erupts into laughter when the music starts, and Percy knows deep down that he’s going to regret this, but he really doesn’t care. That’s a problem for Future Percy. Because “The Boys Are Back” is playing and High School Musical is on the mind and this might be a terrible idea, but it’s _fun_ and Jason is equally, if not more, embarrassed. There’s a stupid sense of solidarity in that, so Percy lets go. 

He’s sure they sound god-awful (they aren’t trying to sing well, and they definitely couldn’t even if they tried), but people are laughing and Jason is smiling with him and Annabeth is not on his mind right now. He swears. 

It’s harder to say that once the song ends. The living room bursts into laughter and cheers for them, but others from the team start to walk towards them and Percy is not ready to face the consequences of this. He takes one look at Jason and they make a break for it. 

“So.” Percy grins. 

“So.”

“What were _you_ getting away from?” 

Jason looks taken aback for a moment, blinking and shaking his head. “Are you going to answer if I do?” 

“Depends on how honest your answer is.” Percy only half-jokes. 

“Piper,” is all Jason offers. 

“Yeah, Piper.” Percy nudges his exasperated friend. 

“No, not like that... she’s just— she’s got a really good heart. Yeah.” Jason nods like he’s trying to convince himself. 

“Of course, I’ve seen you staring at her ‘good heart.’” Percy deadpans. 

At that, Jason straightens slightly, the flush of his cheeks that started with karaoke deepening there now. He doesn’t say anything, but his body language closes off and he looks away from Percy. Usually he’d take this as a confirmation, but right now all he can feel as hurt. Maybe it’s just alcohol clouding his perception, but he can’t help but feel disapproval coming off Jason in waves. It’s probably just in his head. He’s too drunk to tell. 

Regardless, Percy decides not to mention what he was running from when he found Jason. 

Before Jason can ask, Piper walks up to them looking tremendously satisfied. “You two better at dancing than you were up there?” She jerks her head towards the karaoke counter where Leo is standing.

Jason is unresponsive, so Percy turns to her. “I honestly have no idea. I hope so.” 

Piper smiles and aims her Nerf gun at Jason once more. “Then get your asses on the dancefloor, or I’ll be forced to shoot.” 

“You’re kinda out of darts there.” Percy fires back. 

Piper looks at her empty gun and frowns like it betrayed her. “Shit. You’re lucky I’m out of ammo.” She shrugs and returns the gun to her hip, swaying slightly as she does so. 

Annabeth comes up behind her and plucks the gun from the holster, refilling it with darts and sliding it back in. Piper looks down and catches Annabeth’s wrist before the gun is all the way in. She uses her grip to spin around and pull Annabeth into a hug, planting a kiss on her cheek on the way there. Annabeth just rolls her eyes fondly and pats Piper on the head until she’s released. 

“Have I told you you’re the best?” Piper gushes. 

“Not as often as you should.” 

Piper frowns again. “Well I should. You’re the best.” 

“I know.” Annabeth shrugs. 

Piper looks at Percy and Jason as if noticing them for the first time. She beams and pulls her gun on them again. “Go dance or I shoot.” 

Jason’s ears look like they’re on fire, so Percy leads the way with a “yes ma’am.” 

They’re held at gunpoint the whole way to the space where people are dancing by the speakers, at which point Piper puts up her gun and lets loose. Percy notices Annabeth close behind her with a watchful eye. 

It doesn’t take long for Piper to drift towards Jason, who looks like he could drop dead any moment. She yells at him above the blaring music to let loose before grabbing his hands and pulling him away through the crowd. Jason just has time to flash a panicked look back at Percy before he disappears from view. 

Percy can’t see everything that happens, but soon Annabeth is weaving through the crowd and pulling Piper away just as her dance moves become suggestive. Piper protests the whole way as Annabeth drags her to the other side of the dance floor, but Annabeth holds her there. 

Jason is back at Percy’s side a few moments later, a overwhelmed look on his face as he scratches the back of his head. On any other night, Percy would give him shit for it, but Jason looks like he’s giving himself enough shit as is. 

A flash of gold pulls his eyes from Jason and across the floor to where Annabeth throws her head back in laughter at something Piper yelled in her ear. She dances, her hips downright hypnotic in the half light, and then her gaze travels to him. 

Percy meets her eyes to find a mischievous spark alight in them, and the moment is both everything and nothing like the previous party because now he sees the invitation in them. God, he wants to accept. 

“You good?” Jason puts a hand on his shoulder and leans in to speak above the blaring music.

Annabeth’s eyes dart down to Jason’s hand and then to his face. She rolls her eyes and turns back to Piper. 

Annoyance flares up in Percy, encouraged by the alcohol, but he pushes it down and forces a smile at Jason. “Yeah, just a little spaced out. Those shots weren’t my best idea.” 

If he doesn’t buy Percy’s lie, Jason doesn’t show it. Instead, he grins half-heartedly in response. “Same dude, I’m hurting over here.” 

Percy doesn’t respond, just lets his eyes flicker over to where Annabeth was moments ago. Disappointment courses through him when he sees Reyna dancing with Piper in her place. He’s distracted when a Stoll brother (he can’t tell which from here) crashes into him and weaves through the crowd while being pursued by a fuming Rachel. 

Deciding it’s in his best interest to steer clear of _that_ , Percy turns on his heels and heads into the kitchen for another drink. It’s going to be a long night knowing he can’t touch Annabeth while she’s looking at him like that from across the floor. 

Turns out it isn’t just going to be across rooms. He’s met with the sight of Annabeth pouring herself a drink in an empty kitchen. After a quick glance around the surrounding entryway, he deems it safe to go in. 

She glances over her shoulder and does the slightest double take when he leans against the counter beside her. 

“Long night?” Annabeth bites her bottom lip in an attempt to curb her smile, but her eyes drag up and down his body and she ends up worrying at it more than intended. 

Percy pulls his gaze from her mouth. “It’s going to be.” 

Amusement oozes from her voice. “Jason seems kind of worried about you, you know. I overheard him talking to Frank about cutting you off. Apparently you’ve been staring off into the distance since before karaoke.” 

“What exactly are you implying, Chase?” He crosses his arms over his chest and doesn’t miss the way her eyes follow. 

She finishes making her drink and shrugs. “I’m not implying anything, but you do seem to have a habit of following me around at parties. What’re you doing here?” 

“Just getting a drink and standing a respectful distance from my fellow teammate while we have a friendly discussion.” 

“Oh, so we’re friends?” Her eyebrow quirks up. 

“That does seem necessary for the friends with benefits thing, doesn’t it?” 

Annabeth takes a sip of her drink and considers him carefully. “Yeah, I guess it is. But I don’t think this is a friendly discussion.” 

“I’m not a big fan of the respectful distance, myself.” 

A devious smile creeps onto Annabeth’s face, but it vanishes when the kitchen door swings open. 

A wasted Malcolm stumbles in and veers dangerously close to the counter full of glass bottles. Percy rushes forward to steady him. He’s dressed as a… mad scientist? It doesn’t matter, Percy thinks as Malcolm’s head droops forward.

“Has anyone—” his head falls again. “Anyone seen a mustache? I think Leo stole mine.” 

Annabeth steps forward to help before Percy thinks to ask her. She sets a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder until he picks up his head. 

“Hey, Einstein, your mustache is on your face.” ( _Einstein_ , not just mad scientist. Makes sense.) “You feeling alright?” Her voice is tinged with concern. Percy is glad she’s looking at Malcolm, because he’s pretty sure he can’t keep the surprise off his face at her carefulness. 

Malcolm nods, but it’s hardly convincing. This time his head rolls when it falls. 

Annabeth shoots Percy a worried look that he returns. Malcolm isn’t exactly a heavyweight drinker. 

She searches through the cabinets until she finds a clear plastic cup, which she fills with water. Percy continues to support Malcolm until she comes over and holds the cup to his lips, giving him small sips and stopping him when he tries to gulp. Regardless of her efforts, he downs the glass within two minutes. 

“How’s that?” Percy asks Malcolm, who is already beginning to pick his head up again. 

“Better.” Malcolm sighs. “Still gonna puke in like, five minutes though.” 

Nobody has to say anything for Percy and Annabeth swing into action. She ducks under Malcolm’s other arm and they haul him out of the kitchen. 

“Rachel’s bathroom is over here.” Percy jerks his head toward the door and Annabeth nods determinedly. Together they maneuver Malcolm into a stable position in front of the toilet and wait. 

Percy keeps his eyes on Malcolm when he speaks. “You can get back to the party if you want, I got this.” 

Annabeth sets a gentle hand on Percy’s lower back and slides past him. The touch is brief, but it’s branded into his skin after she removes it to sit on the edge of the tub. “Oh no. I’m invested now.” Her voice is joking, but her gaze is soft as she looks down at Malcolm on the floor. 

Now that Percy thinks about it, he has noticed them interacting more than normal for Annabeth. He’s pretty sure he’s seen Malcolm spot her during a workout or two, and he distinctly recalls them having conversations during water breaks. Malcolm was one of the first guys to play fairly with the girls, so it makes sense that Annabeth took a liking to him. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Percy blinks slowly and realizes that he’s been staring pretty hard at Annabeth, and the look on her face tells him it’s not the way she’s used to him staring. 

He puts an easy smile on his face. “You’re getting soft, Chase.” 

She scoffs in response and crosses her arms. “Am not. I’d just prefer not to have a teammate die of alcohol poisoning.” 

“Whatever you say.” 

“Would you two just kiss already?” Malcolm’s voice echoes in the toilet bowl. Annabeth’s eyes widen and shoot down to him, then back up to Percy, who stands there with his mouth open. Before either of them can say anything, Malcolm pukes. 

Pushing the shock of Malcolm’s comment aside, Percy and Annabeth both lean down and make sure he’s alright until he’s done. When he pulls his head up and sighs in relief, Annabeth tries to ask. 

“Malcolm, what did you mean by that?” 

“Huh?” 

She purses her lips and glances at Percy. “What you said before you threw up.” 

“Don’t remember, I was focused on trying not to puke.” 

Percy interjects before she can jog his memory. “No problem bud, don’t worry about it. How do you feel?” 

“Disgusting, but better. You guys go party, I’ll be fine.” Malcolm readjusts and waves their help away. 

“We’re going to stay here until you’re feeling better, or at least until you’re done throwing up. Who’d you come here with?” Annabeth’s voice is the gentlest Percy has heard it. 

“Stolls, Butch, and Lee. We’re spending the night.” With that, he groans and throws up again. 

Him spending the night makes taking care of him a lot easier. Once he drinks more water and holds it down for fifteen minutes, Percy and Annabeth get him upright and help him into his room for the night. Malcolm ends up draped across far more than his fair share of the bed, but he looks so relieved that neither of them suggest moving him. His snore echoes across the room within the time it takes them to reach the door. 

Percy sighs once the door clicks shut. “Well, that was…” 

“A lot. That was a lot.” Annabeth crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the wall of the hallway. 

“Yeah. What do you think he meant by the kissing comment?” 

“I don’t know. He’s drunk.” Her brow creases. 

“Does he know anything?” Percy asks. 

Annabeth looks slightly offended. “No, I haven’t told anyone. And he’s not that observant. I mean— he is, but not emotionally.” 

Percy tries to focus on what she’s saying, but the only word that really registers is _emotionally_. 

“Regardless, it might be a good idea to limit our conversations in public.” She glances around the room to see if anyone is looking toward the shadows they stand in. 

_That_ brings him back to the conversation. “No.” 

“What?” 

“That’s stupid. Malcolm made that comment three seconds before puking, how coherent do you think he was? And until you and Jason can hold a conversation without you wanting to strangle him, you need to keep talking to me. It’d be more suspicious for us to suddenly stop talking than continue as we are right now.” Percy realizes a second too late that his drunkenness has made him more blunt than usual, and he fears Annabeth’s response. 

Annabeth scowls at him. “Did you just call me stupid?” 

“Never. Just the idea. One comment from someone with their head in a toilet shouldn’t stop us from being friends.” He doesn’t know where it comes from, but he’s upset. Not because he has feelings— he doesn’t— but he can’t pretend it doesn’t sting to know that she’d rather continue the sex over talking to him.

But… if they’re going to do this, Percy wants to do it now.

She searches his face and nods. “Alright. You’ve got a point.” 

“Can I make another one?” He asks, his voice low. 

Her eyes narrow. “Depends.” 

“You look _way_ too good to seriously expect me to keep my hands off you right now.” 

“Oh?” Annabeth grins at him and lets her arms fall to her sides. “You make a good point, but I might need more convincing.” She glances out the hallway at the assortment of people left in the main room, her eyebrows knitting together in thought. 

“There’s a laundry room with a lock on it in the basement.” 

“You should’ve led with that.” 

“Meet you there in five?” 

She walks out of the hallway and tosses a smile over her shoulder in response. She’ll be there. 

In the meantime, Percy has about five minutes to kill. He drops in on a few conversations to gauge how much time he has and make sure he’s not missing for the whole night. He does wonder where Jason is, because he’s not sure he’ll follow through on what he’s about to do if he sees him. But Jason’s absence is just as profound as his presence would be; Percy can’t help but notice Piper’s gone too. He lets a few people know about Malcolm in case he doesn’t have time to check on him before he leaves for the night, and then he heads downstairs. 

Annabeth beat him there; she sits perched on the edge of the washer with her ankles crossed. “Hey, slow poke.” Her weight shifts into her hands to slide down, but Percy steps in front of her. 

He places a hand on either side of her legs and moves up until her knees press together and into his stomach. His eyes flicker down to them and back up to her face. 

“Work for it,” is all she says. 

Percy can do that. He puts a hand behind her neck and pulls her face to his. The washer makes her slightly taller than him, which is a strange difference in the angle, but one that he’s happy to adjust to. Their lips meet and he pours all of his effort into it, slowing her efforts to speed things up and keeping the kiss deep. 

Annabeth’s hands slide around his neck and bury into his hair while his stay at her neck and run over her back. She’s going to be the death of him, he’s decided. 

The first sound slipping past her lips is his signal to step back. When he does, her mouth falls open incredulously. Percy just stands there, hands back on either side of her and a challenge in his eyes. 

Her hands fly up to the tie around her neck, and a shit-eating grin creeps onto her face as she removes it. She reaches forward and puts the middle on the back of his neck, tugging him forward. 

He doesn’t move, just lets his eyes fall down to her legs and up at her again. His eyebrow raises. 

Annabeth isn’t going to put herself in the position to tug him forward without the promise of him following her, so she rolls her eyes and uncrosses her ankles, letting her knees part by a few inches. 

Percy puts his hands on her knees and follows her forward, a grin on his face when her legs spread for him. The tie stays taut against him; he lets her lead him straight into a burning kiss. 

His hands slide up her thighs until his fingers tease the hem of her skirt. She encourages him on with another tug and her teeth grazing his bottom lip. The last of Percy’s self control vanishes with that movement; every reservation he has screaming in his head about what a _terrible_ idea public sex is suddenly falls silent. 

At last, he pushes past where her skirt begins. He lets his thumbs travel to the inside of her thighs and tease the sensitive skin there, smiling against her lips when her breath hitches. 

Her free hand slides down his body and blindly fumbles with his belt buckle, but he swats it away. “Work for it,” he throws back. 

She certainly does. Her ankles lock behind him and she uses them as leverage to pull herself all the way to the edge of the washer. Heat courses through Percy’s body when her hand slips under his shirt and around to the small of his back. The tie loosens around his neck as she lets go to wrap her other arm around his shoulders, pulling their bodies flush together. 

He loses control of the kiss as her mouth surges against his own. She bites his bottom lip, swipes her tongue in his mouth, scratches lightly at his back— does everything she can to break him. 

And she would, if the door didn’t swing open that second. 

Jason stops dead in his tracks, one hand still on the handle of the half-open door. His jaw falls open as he stutters and points back at the exit halfheartedly. “I—” his eyes dart over the scene in front of him, to their messed up hair and dishevelled clothing. As soon as the door opened, Percy jumped back and Annabeth closed her legs, but her tie still hangs from his neck. There’s no way out of this. “I gotta go.”

Jason doesn’t stick around. He eases the door shut without meeting either of their eyes, but they hear his footsteps pounding down the hall and up the stairs. 

“Fuck.” Percy looks at Annabeth’s face and finds his own fear reflected in her eyes, which are wide and darting between him and the door. He forgot to lock the fucking door. “ _Fuck_.” He says again. 

“Is he going to tell somebody?” Annabeth’s voice is tense. 

Percy freezes. “No, I don’t think so.” But honestly, he doesn’t know. If Percy had told Jason from the start, maybe the odds would be more in their favor, but finding out like this complicates things. Him running away isn’t exactly a good sign. 

There’s a thud behind him as Annabeth pushes herself off of the washer. She adjusts her skirt and walks forward to pull her tie from his neck. “You don’t sound sure.” Her eyes dart to the door and she takes a step towards it. 

Percy steps in front of her. “I’m not, but I’ll talk to him. _Alone_.” 

Annabeth’s eyes blaze with defiance and he braces himself for her words. “In case you haven’t noticed, this affects me too, Percy. I’m going.” 

He screws his eyes shut and puts his hands on her shoulders. “Listen, whatever bad reaction he might have is going to be a thousand times worse with you there. He’s on guard around you, and that’s the last thing we need. Trust me with this, please.” 

There’s a terrifying second where she looks as though she might argue, but she deflates and nods slightly. “Okay, I trust you.” She looks smaller now, a bit more scared than she did ten seconds ago. 

“Thank you.” He pulls her into a hug without thinking. His actions don’t register for a moment, but he’s pretty sure she returns it before he jumps away. “I’ll be right back. Wait for me here?” 

She nods, and he takes that as the okay to bolt out the door. 

Where would Jason go? There’s no way he went into a crowded room to socialize; he isn’t good enough at hiding his feelings. Panic swells in Percy’s chest as he checks the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the empty bedrooms before thinking to check outside. 

Sure enough, there’s Jason leaning against one of the cars in the full driveway. His arms are crossed over his chest, his shoulders stiff against the metal. The moonlight illuminates the tense muscles in his jaw. He’s angry, maybe angrier than Percy has ever seen him. 

But he turns to Percy as he approaches, and Percy can see his conflict despite the deliberate lack of eye contact. 

“Listen, I—” 

“No.” Jason’s voice rumbles like thunder, a quiet, stoic anger rolling off of him despite his obvious efforts to suppress it. “We aren’t talking about this right now. We’re drunk and at a party with the whole team. We’re going to wait until morning.” 

“But…” Percy can’t find the words to say what he needs to. He’s never seen Jason this angry— he’s not even sure he’s ever seen Jason angry if _this_ is what anger looks like on him. 

“You just want to know if I’m going to tell anyone, don’t you?”

Percy feels like a terrible person when he nods, but the question doesn’t leave an opening for a different response. 

“I’m not going to tell anyone, especially not tonight. You can trust me with this.” The ‘ _you could’ve trusted me with this_ ’ hangs unsaid in the air between them. 

“Jason, I— I’m sorry you found out like this.” 

“But not sorry that you did it.” It’s a statement, not a question. They both know it’s true. 

The only upside is that Percy doesn’t have to lie. 

“I’m gonna get an Uber back to the apartment. Tell Frank I was feeling sick.” His tone tells Percy it isn’t far from the truth. “By the way, I was down there looking for Annabeth. Piper is sick and told me to find her. Upstairs bathroom. Reyna’s with her now.” 

It’s all Percy can do to nod in response before heading back inside. 

He spots Frank as soon as he walks through the door, so he passes on Jason’s message about going home and heads downstairs. 

Dread sinks into him with every step he takes. He inhales deeply when he reaches the door to the laundry room, taking a moment to compose himself. 

When he opens the door, he almost smacks it into Annabeth, who is pacing with worry. She flies around to face him, the panic in her eyes only worsening with the time the conversation took. He regrets telling her to stay down here alone, but it’s better than the alternative of her finding Jason first. 

“He’s not telling anyone.” Percy says. 

The air rushes out of Annabeth’s lungs. “Thank god.” Then she stops. “Why do you look so wrecked? How bad was he?” 

“I’ve never seen him like that, Annabeth. And he was still holding back.” The image of Jason’s stony glare flashes in his mind before he can stop it. 

“Where is he now?” 

“Getting an Uber home.” His voice is flat. 

“Do you need a place to stay?” 

He looks up at her in shock. “You’re not pulling the plug on this?” 

“No, I’m not gonna ditch you to deal with this on your own. This is my mess, too.” 

Though the word _mess_ hurts a little, his heart soars at her words. “You’re sure?” 

“Do you _want_ me to pull the plug?” Despite everything, the corner of her lip twitches up into a smile. 

“No.” 

“Okay then. We’re friends.” She takes a look at his face and rolls her eyes. “Yes, still _with benefits_. But we might want to hold off on that until golden boy calms down. Do you need a place to stay?” She repeats. 

Percy shakes his head. “We’re talking about it in the morning. Me coming back from your place would make it worse. Thanks though.” 

“Are you going to be okay?” She doesn’t ask if he’s okay right now, which he appreciates. In fact, she’s taking this far better than he’d ever expected. He never could’ve dreamed that they’d be caught the way they were, but he _never_ would’ve assumed this to be her reaction. 

“Yeah, I’ll be alright.” The last part of Jason’s message replays in his mind, and he realizes he can’t keep Annabeth with him any longer. 

Her face is still kind when he tells her. “I figured she’d get sick at some point tonight, but I’m sorry I didn’t think it through. I’ll go get her. Thanks, Percy.”

He doesn’t know what to do in parting, but she walks to the door before he can think it through. 

“And Percy?” She turns to look at him. 

“Yeah?” 

“Don’t beat yourself up over this. It’s not your fault.” Her eyebrows crinkle together in concern before she smoothes her face into a slight smile. 

Percy stuffs his hands into his pockets and nods at her, trying to ignore everything in his head that contradicts her. 

There’s also a voice in the back of his mind that he’s been working hard to ignore, but can’t right now. 

_You have feelings for her._

And looking at her now, compassionate despite her fear, Percy can’t deny it. He does, and this is without a doubt the worst possible time to come to this realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  **Love to see you shine in the night like the diamond you are.**   
>  **I'm good on the side, it's alright, just hold me in the dark.**   
>  **No one's gotta know what we do, hit me up when you're bored.**   
>  **'Cause I live down the street,**   
>  **So we meet when you need and it's yours.**   
> 
> 
>   
> This chapter? The most self-indulgent thing ever. Drunk Piper? My whole life. I would die for her.  
> I'm finally caught up to Megan now, so hopefully we'll be able to knock out future chapters faster than this one. (I'm the slowest writer ever and Megan is A Machine, so we'll see about that.) Inspiration was really hard to come by for a while with this chapter, so special thanks to everyone who sent in asks when we needed them, especially macaronifvcker on tumblr, who also made some INCREDIBLE fanart! Thank you for all of your comments, especially you jasiper fans, we see and love you all. And thank you so much for reading!!! (And yes, that conversation with percabeth last chapter + the one with Grover are 100% inspired by Game. Set. Match. by ananbeth and blackjacktheboss. There’s no better way to write the scene.)  
> Songs for this chapter are Electric Touch // A R I Z O N A and Saturday Nights // Khalid for Jason, plus sex // EDEN and Better // Khalid for Percy. 


	4. Tell Me What You Want Me To Say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Get out  
>  Stand Back  
> If you don't let go, you're gonna break me **

Percy wakes up to sunlight streaming in through his window and a raging headache. There’s a moment where he’s just hungover from another Halloween party, where he has no memories of the night before except the music and the dancing and the alcohol.

And then that moment ends.

And then it all comes flooding back to Percy; the initial panic of the door swinging open, the betrayal on Jason’s face when he realized what was going on, the fear on Annabeth’s when he came back from chasing Jason.

He rolls out of bed with a groan and grabs his stuff to go shower. The conversation with Jason can wait until he’s gotten some aspirin in his system and scrubbed the hangover grime from his entire body.

The steaming hot water can only do so much for him though. His thoughts are all over the place and he struggles to wrestle them into something he can comprehend, much less articulate to Jason. Because how the fuck do you explain something like this? ‘ _Hey, sorry I’ve been lying to you for a month. I’ve been sleeping with and catching feelings for a girl who hates you_!’ Or maybe ‘ _listen, you know how I keep fucking up and letting Annabeth walk all over you during practice? It’s because I’m having sex with her! And I have feelings for her!_ ’ Maybe that’s a little overdramatic, but that’s how Percy feels. He’s a horrible co-captain and an even worse friend.

His only comfort is that Jason didn’t seem as mad as Percy would’ve thought.

Jason sits on the couch and avoids Percy’s eyes as he enters the living room. His eyes dart up to and away from Percy like he’s trying to find the right thing to say but can’t.

“So…” Percy puts his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels.

“So.” Jason shifts his weight and tries to face where Percy stands. “Annabeth.”

“Annabeth.” Percy nods, his voice sounding strained even to his own ears. “Listen, Jason, it’s not…” he sighs and shakes his head. “It’s not what it looks like. And I know that sounds bad—”

“How long have you guys been together?”

Yikes. This is the part of the conversation Percy has been dreading the most. Looks like they’re just diving right in.

“See, that’s the thing. We’re not. Together, that is. It’s, uh, casual.” He drops his head and looks at his feet, then decides he needs to look at Jason to gauge his reaction.

“Casual?” Jason meets Percy’s eyes and arches an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, it’s no strings attached. Neither of us wanted to break the no dating rule.” Percy can see Jason’s judgement despite his obvious efforts to hide it; he wrings out his hands and flexes them like he’s trying to keep them from forming fists. This hurts too much to watch, puts Percy on edge. He thinks he’d rather Jason act outright angry instead of trying to be understanding; it’s what he’d be if the tables were turned.

“Okay, how long has it been going on?” Jason’s voice is impossibly level. Percy hates it.

“Since the night of the first game.” He wants to take the words back as soon as he says them. Jason’s spine straightens and his shoulders stiffen. “But it wasn’t a rash decision! We talked about it and agreed to rules and everything. We went in knowing what we were doing.” His words come out sounding wrong and far too detached from the situation, and he’s not sure if that’s better or worse. He doesn’t want Jason to think he doesn’t respect Annabeth, but he also doesn’t want to break his promise to her.

But that promise is already broken. Jason already knows. And Percy _really_ can’t handle the thought of Jason thinking he doesn’t respect women.

“You have feelings for her, don’t you?” Jason asks, his tone a bit lighter, eyes a bit softer.

Percy sighs and the words rush out of him on the exhale. “Yes I do Jason I’m so fucked _please help_.”

Is it too early to relax this much? Percy feels like it shouldn’t be this easy. Jason should still be mad at him, so why is he inviting Percy to sit next to him on the couch?

“I know you can’t control feelings.” Jason starts, shifting slightly. “I’d be one to know.”

Percy bites back a comment about the fact that his situation with Annabeth is a feelings free zone, but Jason is trusting him with something bigger than petty details here.

“Yeah, I can kinda tell.” Percy says softly.

A sigh falls past Jason’s lips; his shoulders deflate and he ducks his head with a slight nod. “I figured, but I also figured I need to say it straight up. I can’t get mad about you not telling me when I’ve been keeping this from you.”

“ _Trying_ to keep this from me.” Percy takes a risk and grins slightly. “I’ve known for a while now. But I appreciate the honesty. I don’t want this to be something we fight over. We’re better than that.”

Jason picks up his head, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he meets Percy’s eyes. The unease in Percy’s chest settles for the first time since last night. This isn’t going to get between them.

“I don’t know if I’m the best person to help though, I’m kind of in a similar position here.” The smile breaks across Jason’s face, and they’re going to be alright. Percy smiles with him.

“Well, maybe we start by getting it all on the table. Maybe another set of eyes will help?” Percy offers. “It can’t be worse than us trying to figure it out on our own.”

“Okay, get it all on the table.” Jason exhales slowly. “I don’t even know what you don’t know.”

Percy shifts to face Jason. “I know you have feelings for Piper, but you don’t know what to do about them because of the rule. And I— sorry for being blunt— I don’t see you being able to hide this for much longer. From her or anyone. Maybe the coaches, but you know how fast word spreads. That was the one rule I came up with. I mean, I _agreed_ to them all, I just… I know it’s hard to keep secrets. I wasn’t— I didn’t want to—” Fuck, so much for getting it all on the table.

“ _You_ decided not to tell anyone?”

“No, I decided no _teammates_. It was that or tell no one.” Percy rushes.

Jason closes his eyes, and suddenly the air is a lot tenser. “Who else knows?”

“Grover. That’s it.”

Jason weighs Percy’s words for a moment. “Okay, I understand. You had to tell someone, and you didn’t want to break a rule.” He nudges Percy’s shoulder with his own. “What are they, anyway?”

“A pain in the ass.” Percy mumbles at his lap. He glances up at Jason with a smile he knows looks pained. “Honestly? They’re not that bad. No hickeys, no waking up together, no kissing, no snitching, no feelings. And team first. That was the biggest one.”

“That’s… a lot of ‘no’. But I respect the last one. I’m glad you guys prioritized, I guess. But you’re seriously okay with all of that? That’s gotta be a lot on your mind.”

“Yeah, I guess it is. But it’s worth it to be with her. Like, the sex is great, but she’s just so good to be around. I’m definitely saying it all wrong, but something just… pulls me to her? It’s hard to explain. She’s not an escape from everything, but she calms it all down. Like at the first party, I wasn’t doing well, and Annabeth gave me a way out. Then we just kept talking, and she was going to walk home alone, and I— one thing led to another.” Percy sighs and messes up his hair. “Sorry, I don’t mean to make this about me, but if we’re getting it all on the table, you deserve to know why.”

“No, you’re fine. And that’s around the time I realized I was screwed with Piper. I drove her home that morning, and that’s when we started talking more.”

“You had it bad before then.”

“Not denying that.” Jason admits. “But it’s when my feelings hit me in the face.”

“Wow, we’re so fucked.” Percy can’t help but laugh. They’d realized their feelings within 24 hours of each other and _still_ took an entire month to talk about it.

“Why are we like this?” Jason chuckles.

“What are you going to do about it? Piper, that is.”

The smile on Jason’s face falters slightly. “I don’t know. I don’t see a way forward without risking being found out. Suffer in silence?”

As much as he wants to comfort Jason, Percy knows that the way out is more complicated than his own. If Jason isn’t going to risk breaking the rule, that’s about the only alternative to it.

And Jason knows this, Percy can see the resignation in his eyes and the way he moves his hands. “What about you?” He asks Percy.

“I don’t know either, but I think the only way out for me is forward. I can’t walk away. Damnit, Grover was right.” He puts his face in his hands and rubs it as if he’s trying to wake up.

“Should we pay him for his emotional labor? I feel like we should pay him for his emotional labor.” Jason jokes.

And then it’s just Percy and Jason, laughing on the couch and swapping stories, as it should be. The conversation hits a few awkward bumps, but it doesn’t derail them. They’re determined to get back on track with this, and they’re going to.

* * *

“Jason.”

The whine reaches Jason’s ears from where he sits on the couch. He ignores it, instead going over his history notes again.

“Jasoooon.”

Again, Jason doesn’t glance up. He tries to hold back the sigh bubbling to his lips, scrolling through his laptop once more.

Before he can tune out the voice, Percy suddenly flops on the couch beside Jason, very nearly putting his head into Jason’s lap. “Jasooooooooon,” Percy groans, looking up at him with a sheepish look on his face. “I accidentally rigged Secret Santa on purpose.”

“I’m sorry…” Jason tries to come to his bearings, blinking several times before fully comprehending the statement. “What.”

Percy gives a nervous smile before twisting his body into a sitting position. “I swear it was for a good cause.”

“Accidentally on purpose?” Jason can’t hide the sigh now. “What the _fuck_ , Percy?”

Secret Santa is a hockey team tradition that Jason’s come to both love and hate. For starters, unlike normal Secret Santa, the giver of the gift is never revealed to add to the excitement of mystery. And while some gifts are sentimental, most of the time gag gifts are given; last year, Jason had the honor of receiving a bright pink dildo (courtesy of Travis, he found out later). To return the favor, he’d gifted it back to the Stolls, who stuck it on the wall over their bedroom where it remains today.

And since November is almost over, the Secret Santa assignments are supposed to go out tomorrow after practice. Emphasis on _supposed to._ The Stolls are always in charge of the list, which means it must not have been difficult to rig the assignments. Needless to say, Percy took advantage of the opportunity.

“I mean…” Percy’s cheeks flush at Jason’s exasperation. “I have a good idea on what to get Annabeth, but I needed Secret Santa as an excuse or she’d be… confused, I guess.”

“You _do_ realize it’s anonymous, right?” Jason asks dryly. 

“Yes, but it’s the thought that counts!” When Jason just groans, Percy leans closer and says, “Jason, please.” His face takes on a pleading expression. “I just did it and Grover’s asleep because of the time difference and I needed to tell _somebody._ Plus—” Percy smiles deviously now— “who says I rigged it _just_ for me?”

Percy may have not said it, but the tone of his voice makes Jason know what Percy did. “You didn’t.”

“I knew you’d be mad if I rigged it just for me to get Annabeth, so I rigged it so you’d get Piper, too!” Percy holds out a fist, waiting for a fist bump. “You can thank me now or later, whichever you prefer.”

“I—”

“I know, I know, I’m too kind.”

Jason wishes he can be mad. Even if Percy hadn’t rigged it in his favor, he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t be too upset. As much as Percy is trying to keep the sex emotionless, Jason would be an idiot if he didn’t notice how hard Percy is falling for Annabeth. Feelings are a bitch, Jason will be the first to admit it, so he needs to cut Percy some slack.

Percy also didn’t have to rig it for Jason to get Piper. Ever since the Halloween party, which seems like a distant memory, Percy’s been trying to make it up to Jason. Why should Jason be mad at something that’s out of his friend’s control? 

“Thanks, I guess,” Jason replies slowly. “Even though I didn’t ask you to do that for me.”

“What are friends for?” Percy nudges Jason with an impish smile. “Since I’m such a great friend, I feel obligated to know what you’re planning to get Piper.”

“I’m sorry?” 

“Earth to Jason.” Percy rolls his eyes playfully. “Secret Santa requires a gift _other_ than admitting your love for her.”

Jason can feel his face burn red. He tries to make something up on a whim but draws blanks.

_What the fuck is he going to get Piper?_

“Nothing?” Percy seems almost disappointed. “I thought you’d have some ideas.”

“Not really, no,” Jason admits. “I didn’t think you’d go and rig it.” He sits in silence for a moment before asking, “What’re you getting Annabeth?”

“Trying to steal my ideas?”

“Maybe.”

Percy laughs. “Seriously, you know her pretty well. Do you want to brainstorm some ideas with me?”

“God, Percy, I don’t even know where to _begin._ ”

And Percy’s right— he is a good friend. He sits with Jason when he could be working out or studying and they throw ideas around for good Secret Santa gifts. A lot of the suggestions are good ones, really, but none of them resonate with Jason, which is kind of silly considering they’re strictly friends.

Except Jason wants to be so much more than that. 

Ever since the Halloween party, Piper’s been talking to Jason a lot more than she did before, and she talked to him a fairly decent amount before the party. Of course, she’d gotten so ridiculously drunk at the party that she ended up puking so she apologized profusely to him for putting him through that, even though he’d wanted to stick around. (Oh man, he’s sounding cheesier by the _second_ when it comes to her.) Since she’d been so wasted, he doesn’t want to bring up the dancing to her, especially since he’s convinced she’d only danced so close because she’d been so drunk. 

Still, there’s a tiny part inside of Jason that hopes maybe she’d been aware of her actions even though she’d been drunk.

Jason’s always been a rule follower. It’s a fact, plain and simple. He sometimes bends the rules when they’re unfair or unjust, but overall he doesn’t dare break them. Especially when it comes to hockey. He’s not one to defy his coaches or trainers or talk back to his captains (before he became one, of course).

But now with the stupid no dating rule, Jason’s tempted to defy his coaches, which scares the shit out of him. 

And he also feels _weird_ for even thinking about breaking the no dating rule. Just because he likes Piper doesn’t mean she likes him, right? She’s a nice person. There’s not a single player on the team she isn’t nice to. When Clarisse is in a bad mood, she deals with it. When the Stolls are being annoying, she just rolls her eyes and laughs at their shitty jokes. When Katie wants to kill the Stolls for being annoying, she changes the subject to soothe things over. She’s just an overall good person. So what if she danced close to him at the Halloween party and she talks to him a lot? Friendliness doesn’t equivocate to romantic feelings.

However, practice is not the only time they interact. They’ve met up at the library to study and they’ve grabbed coffee a few times. It’s been strictly platonic, of course; their conversations mostly revolving around the team or school. But the smiles and jokes have made him only want to break the rules more.

There’s also the looming threat of punishment if she were to reciprocate feelings, and although Piper doesn’t seem to be as much as a rule follower as Jason, she takes the team too seriously to defy Chiron and Hedge. 

“Still nothing?” Percy asks, breaking Jason from his reverie. “Damn, and I thought I was good at gift giving.”

“No, no, I just need to find the _perfect_ gift,” Jason answers. “I don’t see another opportunity to do this with the rule, so I have to jump at the chance, right?”

“Right.” Percy nods. “Hey, if you don’t want to be sentimental, you can always get her a gag gift.”

Jason rolls his eyes. “I’m not doing a repeat of the pink dildo incident.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Grace. I didn’t even _mention_ the dildo.”

Jason goes to fire back when suddenly an idea comes to mind. He’s pretty sure the gift he’s thinking of goes far beyond normal friendship/teammate boundaries, but in the moment, he doesn’t care. Percy presented him with a chance to get the girl he likes a gift and he isn’t going to fuck up, rule or no rule. 

“Percy?” Jason asks hesitantly.

“What is it? What’re you thinking?” 

“I have an idea, but I don’t know if it’s too… boyfriend-y.”

“Shoot.”

Jason hesitantly brings up his idea for Piper, but the more he talks about it, the less confident he’s feeling about it. Even though Secret Santa remains anonymous and he isn’t exactly sure if he _wants_ Piper to know the gift is from him, this will be a dead giveaway. While the rest of the team wouldn’t be able to figure out where the gift came from, Piper will know. And while Jason is sure about his feelings for her, he isn’t sure about how she feels.

When he finishes talking, he looks up to see Percy grinning softly at him. “What?” he asks defensively. 

“No, it’s cute,” Percy assures Jason. “Really, Jason. You know her more than I do, so if you think it’s fitting, I know she’ll like it.”

“Would it be too obvious?”

“Nah. The team would never know.” Percy slugs Jason on the arm. “It’s just a gift. If anything is to give away your crush, it’ll be your face, idiot.”

“Hey.” Jason can feel the tips of his ears blazing but he can’t fight the smile on his face. “Stop.” 

“You love me.” With that, Percy hauls himself to his feet and stretches. “I have an essay to write, but I’ll accept your apology with dinner.”

“Of course you will.” 

“You’re welcome!” Percy calls in a singsong voice over his shoulder as he disappears into his room.

And even though Jason would never give Percy the satisfaction, the Secret Santa rigging is just about the best Christmas gift Percy could give him.

* * *

“You just tied me up? Oh my fucking _god_. You just tied me up.” Percy pants.

Annabeth swings a leg over Percy and leaves him stranded on her bed, his hands still fastened to her headboard. One second he was on top of her, kissing down her neck with the intentions of going far lower, and the next she had him flipped and restrained. Suddenly she was pressing down onto him and teasing him relentlessly, forcing him to beg for release (which she’d eventually granted, but only after making him beg). Annabeth and that damn tie.

And yeah, he’d by lying if he said he didn’t like it.

“Is that a complaint? Because you weren’t exactly complaining when I did it.” She walks around her room, not bothering to cover up, and looks around her laundry piles.

“Nope, not a complaint.” Percy shifts as much as he can to keep her in sight. “But I _will_ complain if you put something on,” he says as she bends down to scoop up an oversized sweatshirt. She puts it on anyway, and _CHASE 6_ flashes in front of his eyes before disappearing behind her hair.

Her eyes focus on him, amusement glimmering in them as they dance across his body to where he’s tied. “You aren’t exactly in a position to be making demands, Percy.”

“Untie me and see how that holds up.” He challenges.

“And _why_ would I do that?” Annabeth takes a few slow steps towards him and holds his gaze.

“I can think of a few reasons.”

She takes the bait and sits on the edge of her bed. If his hands were free, he could pull her into him. But they aren’t, so he has to use his words.

“I don’t know, I think you earned this today.” Annabeth narrows her eyes and whispers before he can say anything else. He racks his brain for anything he could’ve done to piss her off.

“Hold on,” Percy furrows his brow and shakes his head slightly, “is this about _Rachel_?” Judging from the way Annabeth’s eyes flicker away from his, he’s right, but he can’t seem to find a good way to respond. Instead, he watches her smooth over her face and sit up straight, pulling her body away from his.

“Okay, so it’s Rachel.” Percy says. “But I can’t figure out what’s wrong until you say _something_.”

“Percy, nothing is wrong. We never talked about being exclusive or anything, it’s honestly fine.”

“Annabeth.”

“You two are obviously close, and that’s good for you!” She tries to look at him, but ends up staring somewhere over his ear.

“Annabeth, please untie me.” 

“And I—” 

“ _Annabeth_!” Percy adjusts his weight to kick her until her eyes finally blaze into his. “I’d really prefer to have my hands for this. And, you know, _clothes_.”

“Oh. Yeah. Of course.” Soon Percy’s hands are free and Annabeth throws his boxers back at him.

Once he’s got them back on, he sits back down on the edge of her bed and chuckles under his breath. That’s _probably_ a bad idea— it only deepens Annabeth’s frown— but the fact that she just rode the life out of him because of _Rachel_? He has to give that time to process.

“What’s so funny?” She crosses her arms over her chest, but the anger in her voice is undermined by worry. Percy knows she’d sooner die than acknowledge it, so he catches the back of her knee and pulls her to stand between his legs. Despite her eye roll, she follows his guiding hand.

“What?!” Annabeth smacks his shoulder when he laughs again.

Though she’s distressed, Percy takes a moment to compose himself and settle his hands on her waist, feeling slight surprise when she lets him.

“Rachel and I are just friends, Annabeth.” He tilts his head back to watch her reaction, but somehow this doesn’t soothe her. 

“Just friends like _you and I_ are just friends? Or…” Annabeth trails off, a slight pout on her lips that Percy wishes he could kiss away, and he finds himself desperately wanting to know how she’d finish that sentence. Because the way that she says it implies that they are not, in fact, just friends.

But he can’t keep anything from her, so he doesn’t push for answers. “Just friends as in she’s _gay_. Into girls. Definitely flirted with Reyna in front of you on Halloween. Probably would’ve flirted with you if we hadn’t disappeared.”

Indignance washes over her face alongside a flush of pink. Rather than acknowledging it, she leans in to tease Percy.

“Oh? And what would you have done if I’d flirted back?” Annabeth smiles, regaining her edge.

“Definitely wouldn’t blame Rachel for having good taste.” Percy slides his hands back down to her thighs and holds the back of them, thumbs tracing her skin. “But I definitely wouldn’t have been as jealous as you are.” He gives her a shit-eating grin.

“I wasn’t jealous, asshole.” She mumbles.

“Sure, you tied me up and dominated me because you _weren’t_ jealous. Alright.”

“Again, I don’t see you complaining.” Annabeth shoots back.

“Oh, you’re not going to. But I do believe we agreed to be honest with each other, and you, Annabeth Chase, are a terrible liar.” _Now_ she looks defeated, sending him a tired look and biting her lip.

“And what does it change if I was?” Annabeth’s hands slide up to play with the hair at the back of his head, far too fond for this conversation.

“Only my ego.” Percy tugs her forward until she’s flush against him and their faces are inches apart.

“Definitely not jealous then.” She laughs. “We can’t afford any more of that.”

“I’d argue that my ego is about where it needs to be.” He skims his hands back up her legs, this time letting them travel below the sweatshirt to rest on her hips. To prove his point, he removes a hand from her and makes the ‘come here’ motion that could be innocent, but is far too reminiscent of the movement his fingers make inside of her when he tells her to let go. He hasn’t gotten to do that today. It’s a shame. He should really do something about that. 

Its significance is not lost on Annabeth, who gives his hair a light tug in response.

Instead of letting her have the upper hand again, Percy stands up, holding Annabeth in place when she attempts to step back.

Her face fits so well in his hands as he guides her chin up and kisses her deeply, taking his time and pulling her close.

Usually being with Annabeth silences all of his thoughts, but right now his head still swirls with them. Because now they’re of her.

She was jealous. So jealous that she felt the need to take him home and make him her own again after the game. (He never _stopped_ being hers, but for the sake of trying to get her point of view.)

What the fuck does that mean? What was she jealous _of_? Obviously she doesn’t like the idea of him and Rachel, but what about it bothers her? 

Because if it’s what Percy thinks, this whole hiding feelings thing is going to get a whole hell of a lot harder.

Despite the hard exterior, Annabeth is terrible at hiding her emotions. Or maybe she’s good at it and Percy is finally able to get a read on her. He likes that thought a lot more than the first.

Annabeth could be jealous of the idea of Percy and Rachel dating, sure, but she also could’ve been upset about the lack of communication or the idea of Percy calling this off for a relationship.

Still, this is a discussion of feelings. Not sex, not hockey, not logistics or strategy. _Feelings_. And there’s a chance Annabeth has them. It’s a slim chance, but it’s there and it’s going to be the only thing Percy can think about for the foreseeable future.

Her hand teases the waistband of his boxers, drawing him back to her for a moment. He pulls back from the kiss, breath heavy and hands hot against her skin. Of course she’s playing with his boxers; he’s just kissed her. And he’s done so with far too much passion for sex not to follow. Because that’s what they’ve agreed to: sex has to follow.

Their eyes meet, gray against green, and a smile flickers across her face. Percy wants nothing more in this world than to spin them around and press her down into the bed, softly saying every word he’s held back against her lips. He wants the clothes to stay on. He just wants to kiss her. And if the clothes have to come off, he wants to claim her as his just as she’s claimed him. (Maybe without the tie, but the sentiment stands.)

But if Annabeth does have feelings for him, he needs to let her think he’s oblivious to them. Otherwise she’ll pull the plug. That’s what every goddamn rule she’d come up with is meant to prevent. No feelings. Team first.

So he pushes his heart out of where it had leapt into his throat and sits back down on the edge of the bed, pulling her into his lap as he slides back. She follows and Percy pulls her face to his, letting her set the pace and meeting her there movement for movement. If he can’t claim her as his, he’ll be damned if he doesn’t show her that he’s hers.

Annabeth pushes him back so that he lays flat on her bed. Before she can take off their clothes, he holds her face in his hands, pulling her down until she’s flat against him and their lips meet again. She’s in control of the kiss itself, but Percy holds her there, taking the closeness while he can. 

For a moment, they’re just kissing in bed, and that’s all he wants right now. That’s all he’s going to want for a very long time. 

* * *

By the time that Secret Santa rolls around, Percy has lost track of the amount of times he’s almost dropped Annabeth’s present due to his clammy hands. After about a week of having it in the apartment, Jason stole it and wrapped it himself to keep Percy’s nerves at bay. And because Percy couldn’t wrap a present to save his life.

So to say that he is nervous would be an understatement. He’s torn over whether to keep it anonymous or tell her it was him, but ultimately decides to leave it up to her reaction. If it’s good and she doesn’t immediately assume Piper gave it to her, he’ll tell her after that it was him. He doesn’t want to think about what he’ll do if she doesn’t like it, but Annabeth is smart. She’ll probably figure it out regardless. That doesn’t help much either.

Fuck, _why_ did he rig this stupid exchange? It’s just a gift. He was dumb to think that giving Annabeth a gift would do anything to change the situation between them. She can’t be _bought_.

He knows that wasn’t his intention when he rigged Secret Santa, but his nerves are high. And after the jealousy incident, Percy feels like he’s been on high alert around her even more than usual. Every word and movement is suddenly a monumental thing for him to overanalyze. He’d prided himself before on reading her, but now it seems he’s reading too far.

So when there’s a quiet knock at the front door, he doesn’t think twice when Jason goes to get it. It’s probably just Malcolm or Butch getting here early. Percy even checks the time on his phone; it’s fifteen minutes before anyone in the groupchat said they’d be here.

“Um, Percy? It’s for you.” Jason calls from the living room. 

Percy sets down the ingredients for the eggnog and walks out to see Annabeth standing in the doorway, fidgeting with the strap on her purse, with Jason shifting nervously with a hand still on the doorknob. The scene would make him laugh if he wasn’t so caught off guard.

Both sets of shoulders fall in relief when they see him.

He feels a sudden rush of affection for both of them, and then is hit by a pang from the fact that they don’t get along. They’re two of his favorite people and they hate each other. (It definitely started one-sided, but he can feel Jason’s growing contempt for Annabeth. He just doesn’t know how to talk about it yet.)

Annabeth and Jason raise their eyebrows at the same time, giving him a matching ‘ _what the fuck is this?_ ’ face. He can’t help but scoff at that; if only they could see how similar they are. 

But they’re waiting on some sort of response from him, so he pushes that thought aside. There’s a time and a place for that, and it is _not_ minutes before the entire team barges through the door.

So he looks first at Annabeth. “Someone is early.” Percy walks toward her— _them_ , and sees Jason shake his head and step back from the door. 

“Hey, can I talk to you outside?” She tucks a curl behind her ear and tilts her head at him. Her eyes dart between him and Jason, who she addresses next. “It won’t be too long.”

Percy blinks in surprise at the sudden change in her tone when she talks to Jason. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard the switch so quickly before. Before she can say anything else, he places a hand on her back and frowns at her.

He looks back at Jason to find his best friend looking at him expectantly, and a little defeatedly, like he knows Percy is going to follow Annabeth instead of helping him get ready. Annabeth looks at him the same way, even with the slight worry. His hand falls from her back.

The choice has never been laid out so clearly for him. Share captain responsibilities with Jason, or follow Annabeth for whatever she has planned outside. They’re waiting on him to decide.

This would all be so much easier if they just got along. They’re the two people in his life who are supposed to make this shit easier, and they’re constantly pulling him in different directions. He’s really getting tired of it, if he’s being completely honest.

But staying to help Jason means having him and Annabeth in the same room for at least fifteen minutes, whereas leaving with her is the most immediate way to diffuse the tension building in the room. And if he has to piss one of them off, Jason would be faster to get over it. Percy feels terrible for putting it that way, but it’s the truth. His loyalty may be torn, but his practicality wins out.

Plus he’s anxious enough about Annabeth’s reaction tonight without the added factor of him refusing her offer. So he rests his hand on her back again and takes a step closer to her, wincing at the way Jason’s face falls. He pushes her out the door before she can make a snide comment to make the situation worse.

Percy turns in the doorway to look at Jason, who has a silent argument with him. There’s a pleading look in Jason’s eyes that quickly fades to exasperation. He raises an eyebrow at Percy, which Percy returns with an apologetic grimace before backing out into the hallway. 

“Okay, I’ll finish the eggnog myself.” He hears Jason call from this side of the door. 

“Matching with your boyfriend? That’s cute.” Annabeth says from behind him.

Percy turns to look at her, fully taking her in for the first time today. She’d followed the ugly sweater rule, but only barely. It wasn’t one of the gaudy or loud ones he knew would make an appearance tonight; instead she’d settled on a light blue turtleneck sweater with grey squares making up that classic Christmas print and setting off every different shade in her eyes. She looks more cute than anything.

Her eyes are fixed on his sweater, which is black with red details and the word ‘HO’ stitched onto the front. Percy feels heat flood his cheeks as he tries to play it off, but it’s only a matter of time until the entire team sees Jason’s matching ‘WHERE’S MY HO AT?’ sweater.

“And to think, I thought you were _my_ hoe.” She smiles, her demeanor completely changed from how it was in the apartment.

“Ha, ha.” He narrows his eyes and leans against the wall, crossing his arms at her.

“Hold on, not here. I don’t want golden boy listening in.” Annabeth hooks a hand between his forearm and his chest and drags him down the hallway with her.

“He’s not going to— listen, you gotta stop calling him golden boy.” He complains as he lets her lead him. “Jason’s sticking his neck out for us, you know. He doesn’t have to keep quiet about this.”

They reach a point she deems far enough and stop. “But he’s not going to betray you like that.” She states simply.

“That’s not a valid reason to continue to treat him like this.” He frowns.

“And I’m supposed to just _suddenly_ be nice to him because he has something to hold over my head?” Annabeth’s voice takes on an edge. This isn’t exactly what Percy thought she was pulling him away for. “Look, I’m sorry, but Jason and I are going to have to figure this out on our own. Don’t stress over it.”

“Don’t stress over it? My co-captain and my— the girl I’m slee— listen. I don’t know what the fuck to call you, but making me choose between you and Jason is a massive stresser for me. I’m not asking you to like him, but I _am_ asking for civility. Please.” This moment should be accompanied by some sort of touch: him taking her hands, touching her face, resting his hands on her waist. But all he can do is keep his hands to himself and hope that she’ll listen.

Annabeth wrinkles her nose at him and then sighs. “Okay, I can do civil, but only because you asked. And because it’s Christmas.” She fidgets with her purse now, biting back a nervous smile. Percy finds himself smiling with her.

She looks so cute right now with her Christmas sweater and antsy hands. But before Percy can do something stupid, like kissing her, Annabeth unzips her bag and thrusts something soft and folded at him. 

“I didn’t get you for Secret Santa, but I got something for Piper and a few other friends and it felt wrong to leave you out. So…” She gestures to the fabric in his hands. “I didn’t wrap it because it’s a pain, but I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Percy looks at her with a disbelieving smile before unfolding what she’s shoved at him.

His whole body feels warm as it falls open facing him. “It’s a Rangers sweatshirt.” He says slowly. “You hate the Rangers.”

“To be fair, I still think they suck. Islanders for life and all that. But what do you think?” Her voice betrays her smug words.

“I—” Percy runs a hand through his hair, trying and failing to find a proper way to say thank you. “Oh god, I didn’t—”

“Slow down there.” She puts a hand on his, not holding it, but coming close. “I don’t need you to get me anything. I asked if you like it.”

“I do,” he rushes to reassure her, “just wasn’t expecting it, I guess. But it’s perfect, really.” It all comes out sounding _wrong_ to Percy, and even though it makes Annabeth’s smile absolutely radiant, the words don’t feel like enough.

But he can’t thank her like he wants to without admitting his feelings.

Rather than expose that before the team comes over, he pulls her into a hug, the sweatshirt firmly in one hand. It occurs to him that this is the first time they’ve done this (he doesn’t count that moment immediately after Jason walked in on them), and it also occurs to him that the team could be coming down the hall at any moment.

Annabeth doesn’t pull away or refuse him though, so he holds on for a bit longer than he should, one hand resting on the back of her head and holding her to his chest while the other finds her back. Her arms loop around his waist, her fingers lacing behind his back. Percy takes in as much of this moment as he can before she pulls away, because he knows he won’t be the first to do so.

When she does pull away, it feels almost reluctant. He lets himself believe that, cling to that for a moment as she looks up at him with those big gray eyes. And as she does, Percy realizes that he is completely and utterly ruined for anyone except her.

Neither of them seem to realize how close they’re standing until one of the doors near them swings open, sending Percy and Annabeth flying apart. Their neighbor sends them a strange glance before heading down the hall to the elevator.

Percy clears his throat and leans casually against the wall, lowering his voice. “You know at some point I’m going to need to see this on you.”

“Over my dead body.” Annabeth narrows her eyes at him. “I gave that to you in good faith. Don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t.” Percy says earnestly, tired of having to disguise his emotions with flirtatious conversation. Though he does want to see Annabeth in this sweatshirt on, and preferably with nothing underneath— that’s not the point.

She just smiles and pulls him back to the door of his apartment, stopping a few feet short and resting her back against the wall. 

“You don’t want to go in there, do you?” He eyes her warily. 

“Nope, and I’m willing to bet Jason thinks we’re fucking. He looked particularly scandalized when I told him we wouldn’t be long.” A smug grin slides onto her face.

Not wanting to look like he approves, Percy holds back a laugh. It seeps into his voice anyway. “Is that why you said it that way?”

“Mhmm.”

“You,” he can’t help the way he leans into her, far too close to be out in the open like this, “are impossible, Chase.”

“I’m flattered.” Annabeth scoffs.

Percy’s phone dings in his back pocket, a sure sign that either Jason or a teammate is coming out soon. “I’m just going to put this in my room and then I’ll be back out. Alright?”

“Yeah.” She nods like it’s easy, but Percy knows playing nice won’t go as smoothly as he wants it to.

Regardless, he takes the remaining steps to the door, ignoring the way his heart pounds in his chest as he does so. His thoughts race around his head, this conversation only having cluttered them even more. But he’s got two clear takeaways from this. 1) Annabeth is definitely feeling more than she’s letting on, and 2) he’s _terrified_ of what she’s going to think of her gift now. 

* * *

 _Oh my god. Are they having sex outside the apartment_ right now _?_

Jason knows Percy’s an idiot when it comes to Annabeth, he really does, but he doesn’t think sex _outside of their fucking apartment_ a few minutes before the Christmas party starts falls under Percy’s usual scope of idiocy.

Instead of worrying over the fact his best friend may be very well having less-than-private sex outside, Jason tries to collect himself and worries about if everything’s ready for the party. He knows the Stolls are supplying more alcohol (of course) and the party itself doesn’t require much preparation outside of booze and snacks, but there’s an odd sense of leadership with the party. It’s not as stressful as actually leading the team in game settings, but the Christmas party is much like the victory parties— it’s one of the season’s highlights. And since Percy might be getting laid, Jason has to be the one to worry. 

 _It’s fine, everything’s fine. I’m calm._  

Several agonizing minutes pass and the door to the apartment swings open. Jason glances up and sees Percy, an obvious flush on his cheeks, with Annabeth at his heels. He’s holding something bundled in his hands and when he sees Jason’s expectant gaze, the blush deepens and he looks dazed.

“I have to put something in my room,” Percy says hurriedly, pointedly not meeting Jason’s eyes again as he walks out of the room and into his bedroom.

That leaves Jason alone with Annabeth, which is just about the last thing he wants.

Annabeth makes it a point not to look at Jason. She sinks onto the couch, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it. The tension is so thick that Jason can practically taste it.

It’s unfair. She can go off and sleep around with his best friend yet still openly dislike him even though he’s in on their little secret. It’s bold, surely, since other people in his position would use this behavior as an excuse to reveal their situation, but Jason isn’t that kind of guy. Maybe that’s why Annabeth still refuses to treat Jason with the same amount of respect as she does Percy; she knows he wouldn’t betray Percy like that.

Sometimes Jason really wishes he didn’t care so much about Annabeth, but he does.

Percy emerges from his room moments later, seemingly unaware of the tension. “Is the booze ready?” he asks cheerfully.

“Eggnog is,” Jason replies. “The Stolls are bringing whatever else they can find.”

“I swear, if someone pukes on the carpet, I’m going to murder them.”

“Watch out for Malcolm, then,” Annabeth says coolly, not bothering to glance up from her phone. 

The corner of Percy’s mouth twitches and it looks like he’s trying to curb a smile. “Yeah, we’ll make sure Malcolm stays under control.”

Although Jason is aware of the Malcolm situation from the Halloween party, he feels like he’s intruding on an inside joke, so he tries to tune them out. As long as Annabeth is here, Jason’s ultimately edged out.

Thankfully, the Stolls arrive a few minutes later. They’re wearing a two-person Christmas sweater, so each of them only has use of one arm. Travis has the car keys in his hand, which begs the question who drove since they’re in the same sweater, while Connor triumphantly holds up a paper bag. “I brought the goods,” he announces gleefully.

“We’re not trying to have a repeat of the Halloween party,” Percy informs them as he wearily eyes the bag.

“Relax.” Travis pulls out one of the bottles from the bag. “We brought wine. We’re going to be tame tonight.” 

“We brought that one bottle of—”

“It’s mostly wine,” Travis interrupts his brother. “Don’t worry. _Tame_ is our middle name.”

Annabeth scoffs and looks at them. “You guys share a middle name?”

If either of them are surprised at Annabeth’s presence on the couch, they don’t react. Connor nods and gestures at their connected sweater, careful not to swing the paper bag with alcohol. “We share everything, Annabeth. Why not a middle name, too?”

“Anyway.” Travis looks at Jason pointedly. “Lead us to the booze.”

“After me.” Jason doesn’t look back at Percy and Annabeth as he leads the Stolls into the kitchen.

The Stolls begin to empty the bag with the alcohol. They’ve brought several bottles of wine since the Secret Santa exchange is notoriously calm compared to any other party. They start arguing over something petty as Jason uncorks the bottles before the team arrives. 

Judging by the sound of the door repeatedly opening and closing, plus the addition of multiple voices in the room, the team is arriving. But if Jason were to stop and think about how Piper will be arriving soon, he’d fall to pieces. His nerves are too much to bear. 

Her present has been wrapped and under the tree for the past several weeks, although he can’t see it anymore; after their last practice, the team had piled their presents into the backseat of Percy’s car to keep the ambiguity of the giver, so Piper’s gift had been hidden behind the new additions. Percy has continuously told him it’s the perfect gift, and while Jason wants to think so, he keeps doubting himself. Maybe she would hate it. Maybe this present intruded on the ambiguous boundaries being teammates entailed. Maybe—

 _Stop._ Jason pours himself a gracious amount of eggnog and nearly chugs it all in one go since he’s so nervous. _It’s an anonymous gift. She might not even know it’s from you._

He tries to push aside his emotions as the apartment fills with their teammates, naturally drifting into the kitchen to get booze and eat snacks. With the semester finally coming to a close, everyone’s in a good mood. Their season has been amazing so far. The team is working together astonishingly well under the Title IX circumstances and for once, Jason is feeling less stressed about being a captain than he is about the idea of Piper opening his gift. 

Jason is never the one to lose his cool under pressure, but now he feels himself cracking under his own thoughts and self-doubt.

When Leo arrives, no one vocalizes their surprise to see him there. He’s established himself as a part of the team long ago and without his cheerful presence, their parties aren’t the same. He eases away some of the tension Jason feels whenever he’s around Annabeth. And although Leo may be annoying, Jason’s thankful for him.

To honor the dress code of ugly sweaters, Leo’s wearing one with a huge red bow attached to his chest, glittery and obnoxiously the center of attention. In bold print, the sweater reads in all caps ‘FROM GOD, TO WOMEN’. Jason almost wants to make a sarcastic comment about how none of the girls on the team are interested, but he doesn’t want to deflate Leo’s ego so early into the party.

“What, no hard stuff?” Leo sounds disappointed as he eyes the bottles of wine littering the counter.

“I’d rather not have the team drunk here. It’s Christmas, anyway,” Jason responds with an eye roll. 

“Is it really Christmas if we’re not drunk?”

“Leo, you’re not even on the _team_.” 

“And?” Leo arches an eyebrow and gestures to himself. “I am a crucial aspect of the hockey parties, Jason. My presence will be missed if I were to leave.” He grabs a plastic cup and fills it with eggnog, taking a sip. “This will have to do.”

“There’s a bottle of rum in the paper bag,” Connor calls from several feet away.

“See? This is why the Stolls host the parties.” Leo reaches into the paper bag and pours a decent amount of rum into his already alcoholic eggnog. He takes a sip and then looks at Jason with glittering eyes. “So. Where’s your girlfriend?”

“My what?” Jason nearly chokes on his eggnog.

“Your girlfriend.” When Jason just stares blankly, Leo sighs. “Piper. I didn’t see her.”

“I—” Jason feels hot all over. “I don’t know. And she’s not my girlfriend, Leo.”

“I mean, not yet.” Leo’s eyes drift down to Jason’s Christmas sweater. “If you _want_ her to be your girlfriend, you might want to change your sweater. You can’t match with Percy if you’re trying to impress her. She might think you’re gay.”

“Bisexual people exist, Leo _._ ” Jason is so thankful they’re alone in the kitchen. If anyone else were to overhear, it’d be game over. Leo knows him too well to deny anything, but Jason can feel himself blushing, a dead giveaway that he _wants_ to impress Piper. “But stop. Please.”

Leo holds up his hands with a devious smirk on his face. “In the name of Christmas spirit, I will. I was just _saying_ —”

“What’d I miss?”

As if Leo has summoning powers, Piper enters the kitchen, easily leaning against the counter beside Leo and directly across from Jason. She smiles earnestly and the twinkle in her eyes makes Jason want to melt to pieces. Suddenly his matching sweater makes him feel almost embarrassed, although there’s no reason to be; he and Percy had done worse. Their Halloween karaoke had been infinitely worse than this and there are videos to prove it.

Plus, Piper looks _good._ It seems silly to think someone could rock an ugly Christmas sweater as well as she does, but it’s true. The sweater clings to her body better than her jersey ever could, the words reading in big font ‘GET LIT’. The lights on her sweater are on, reflecting light onto the counter. Red ornament earrings dangle from her ears, swinging as she turns her head to face Jason.

“Talking about the shitty alcohol selection,” Leo says easily. “Which is why I vote for the Stolls to host next year.” 

Piper wrinkles her nose. “I drank the finals stress away already. I could use a break from partying.” She grabs a cup and looks up at Jason. “Pour me a glass?”

“Uh.” Jason takes the cup from her and tries to keep himself composed as their fingers brush. “Of course.” He pours her eggnog and purposely keeps his eyes on the task at hand even though he can feel her gaze burning into him. He’s nowhere near drunk, but the warmth from the rum in the eggnog makes him feel as though he could spill his feelings right then and there.

“Thanks, captain.” She takes the cup back and takes a sip and Jason would be a dirty liar if he said he didn’t stare at her lips the entire time.

Judging by the gleeful look on Leo’s face, Jason’s staring is more obvious than he intended it to be, so he tears his eyes away from her to stare down at the counter.

Before Jason can let the nerves completely ruin him before the party’s even begun, Reyna enters the kitchen, grabbing Piper by the shoulder and whispering something into her ear. Piper nods and grins before gesturing to the counter. “Drink, Reyna, it’s Christmas.”

“I have to drive to the airport after this. And knowing you, I’ll have to drag you home since you’ll be drunk,” Reyna deadpans.

“I’ve made you babysit me enough. I am aiming for a good buzz tonight.” Piper holds an empty cup out to her roommate. “Plus, if I puke on the carpet, I’m pretty sure the captains will kick my ass.”

“You _wish_ one of the captains will—” Leo only stops whispering the joke when he sees Jason’s deathly glare, choosing instead to chuckle over the lip of the plastic cup.

Reyna stares at the cup and sighs. “Okay, fine.” She goes for the wine instead, filling the cup and taking a sip. She points at Piper and narrows her eyes. “Don’t get drunk.”

Piper salutes. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Jason.” Reyna shifts her gaze to him and her face is expressionless. He hopes she doesn’t see right through him, but this is Reyna; if anyone were to pick him apart, it’d be her. “Make sure she doesn’t embarrass herself, alright? And if she does, find me.”

“Of course.” Jason nods and tries to ignore how clammy his palms are.

As soon as Reyna leaves, Annabeth calls to Piper from across the apartment. Jason can see the girls have grouped together, except for Katie, who seems to have been cornered by the Stolls. For a moment, he’s torn on whether he wants Piper to stay or not. The longer she stays with him and Leo, the greater chance there is for him to fuck up. But if she were to leave, he’d be disappointed because she’s one of the only people he wants to be around right now.

But it’s Annabeth calling— Piper wouldn’t stay with Jason if Annabeth is calling.

“I’d love to stick around, but I’m needed elsewhere.” Piper pours more eggnog into her cup and smiles. “I’ll see you around.” It may be Jason’s imagination, but she seems to smile a little more warmly at him than she usually does before she walks away.

Leo laughs and shakes his head. “You’re so fucked.”

“I’m not fucked.” 

“You were practically _drooling._ I know dating breaks a rule or whatever, but can’t you just—” Leo waves his free hand in the air— “I don’t know, just have sex? Keep it casual?”

That hits a sore spot. Jason can feel his shoulders stiffen slightly and he wishes he can confide in Leo about how uncasual a friends with benefits relationship can be. If Percy can’t keep things emotionless, Jason certainly wouldn’t be able to. 

“That’s low, even for you to say,” Jason says dryly. “No, Leo. A rule’s a rule. I’m not going to break it just because she’s pretty. She’s probably not interested, anyway.” 

“You, my friend,” Leo sighs, reaching across the counter and putting a hand on Jason’s shoulder, “are blind.”

“I’m not blind, I’m realistic.”

“You’re blind. Even more blind emotionally than you are physically.”

Jason forces a smile. “Is that a contacts joke?” 

“Oh, fuck off.” Leo flips Jason off. “Is the no dating rule really more important than you being happy? Be honest.”

This is one thing Jason’s grappled with since admitting his feelings for Piper to himself. There’s an appeal to leadership but being around her makes him happy. She may joke around and call him _captain_ , but their friendship doesn’t revolve around his title. When he’s with her in the library, he feels the most normal he’s felt in months. She takes the captainship edge off.

But being with her would be breaking a rule. A _huge_ rule. Jason’s not sure he wants to face the consequences.

_The consequences might be worth it, though._

As more people filter into the kitchen to get booze, Jason finds an excuse not to talk. He halfheartedly listens into the conversations, pitching in every so often to appear normal, but his mind swirls with the inner battle between his head and his heart. He has to fight back every urge to glance over to look at Piper, especially when he hears her voice chime in every few moments. 

He’s been a hockey player since he could walk, being with his team should feel natural. But the most natural thing he’s felt this season is being around the dark-haired girl in a sweater covered in Christmas lights. How can he feel so unlike himself yet the most himself all at the same time? 

Percy asked him to be captain and he thought he’d be up for the challenge. He’d been captain in middle school and high school; this job should fit him like a glove. Yet every time he meets Piper’s eyes, he feels all his self-control dissipate and he almost wants to say _fuck it_ and give into the temptation.

He drinks more eggnog than he should and tries to enjoy being with his team.

Once mostly everyone is more or less comfortable, the Stolls are practically trembling with excitement. Secret Santa is their favorite, as they make it known every chance they get. They move throughout the apartment, bumping shoulders in their connected sweater, the two of them crowing in unison, “Present time!”

Maybe it’s the thought of a repeat of the pink dildo incident or the nervousness stemming from the anticipation of Piper opening her present, but Jason wishes he can sneak away to his room and bury himself in his blankets.

Percy is seated on the ground, leaning his back against the sofa. Leo, Malcolm, and Nyssa are on the couch, so Jason deems the spot as safe as Percy waves him over. He sinks onto the ground, hyper-aware of Piper cross-legged next to Reyna across the living room. Even if he wasn’t intentionally looking for her, the flickering lights on her sweater act as a beacon, turning all eyes to her. 

“You good?” Percy whispers, raising an eyebrow at Jason.

“I’m fine.”

Percy sees right through Jason’s lie. “It’ll be okay,” he assures Jason. “Just relax.”

But Jason can’t relax. His entire body is stiff and he can feel his heart beating throughout his entire body as the Stolls begin reaching under the tree, pulling out the wrapped presents and handing them out to the team. He knows Piper’s gift is back there somewhere and the thought of her opening it makes him glad he’s sitting; if he were standing, he’d be on the floor by now.

Leo is the first of their small cluster to get a gift handed to him. He sits up and tears through the wrapping paper, revealing a plain white box. “This better not be a sex toy,” he says in a warning voice as he opens the lid.

“Is it?” Malcolm asks from beside him, leaning in.

Fortunately for Leo, it’s not a sex toy. He lifts up the fabric from the box and it looks almost exactly like Eastview’s home jersey— white with the Spartan helmet in the middle of the chest, complemented by blue and red. The back of the jersey has _VALDEZ 0_ on it. It may not be as nice as the university jerseys, but it’s pretty damn close. This has to exceed the price limit slightly, but nobody seems to mind.

“Hey, our cheerleader finally got a uniform,” Nyssa laughs, reaching an arm over Malcolm to punch Leo’s arm.

Leo stares at the jersey and Jason swears he’s close to tears, but he just clears his throat before folding it up and setting it back in the box. “Guess I have new apparel to wear to the games,” he says cheerfully, though Jason can decipher the emotion in his voice. 

“Aw, Leo.” Percy looks back and grins. “Now you can _actually_ play with us!”

The team laughs at that before the Stolls grab a new present, handing it off to Jake to open. 

Holding true to last year, there are plenty of sex toys given. Reyna is the first to open hers, blinking down at her bag before pulling out a big purple dildo. The team hollers with laughter and she simply shrugs, a smug look on her face. 

“She’s gonna use it!” Butch exclaims. 

“You don’t even _like_ dick!” Piper says accusingly, a shit-eating grin on her face.

“I didn’t say it was for me,” is Reyna’s cool reply. 

The apartment fills with howls of laughter, Reyna grinning widely as Piper leans over to give her a high-five. Annabeth rolls her eyes but the smile on her face is far too gentle for the gesture to be considered malicious.

When Frank opens his gift, his face turns red and his eyes immediately flash to the Stolls. “Really?” he asks dryly.

“What?” Connor asks in a tone that’s far too innocent for it to be genuine. 

“I pushed someone once _last year_ ,” Frank protests. “Are we really still dragging out the joke?” 

Travis looks like he’s stifling a laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says defensively.

“What joke?” Clarisse demands, sounding annoyed. 

Frank stares down at the partially opened gift in front of him. With a sigh, Lee reaches over and plucks a shirt from the box and holds it up for everyone to see. It’s a plain green shirt with the words ‘BEAST BOY’ written across the chest in bold white letters. At the sight, the Stolls nearly collapse, tangled in the sweater, cackling with laughter. Some other teammates laugh, but the girls look confused.

“I pushed someone against the glass _once_ and the Stolls nicknamed me Beast Boy,” Frank complains. “I thought it died out last season.”

“C’mon, Frank, it’s too good to give up,” Travis insists. “The green really compliments your skin tone, too.” 

Frank grumbles and shoves the shirt back into its bag. 

By the time Percy goes to open his gift, Jason is getting more jittery since the pile of gifts beneath the tree is dwindling. Hopefully Percy’s gift will be entertaining to ease some of Jason’s nerves. 

Percy’s gift does not disappoint. He sighs dramatically but an exasperated smile flickers onto his face as he holds up a pair of fuzzy blue handcuffs. Someone whistles and he twirls them around his finger casually. 

“Customized just for you,” Ethan laughs.

“The blue _is_ a nice touch,” Percy agrees easily.

For a moment, Jason can see Percy’s head turning in Annabeth’s direction. He can also see how one of Annabeth’s eyebrows is raised, almost as if she’s plotting something, and although Jason is more attentive to them than the rest, he’s almost nervous for them— a look after Percy receives a sex toy isn’t exactly the most secretive.

Before Percy can look at Annabeth, his head whips around and he settles his glittering green eyes on Jason. “I know what we’re doing tonight,” he stage whispers as he winks. 

“Do you guys need condoms? Some lube?” Connor asks, lifting up his newly gifted bottle of lube and box of flavored condoms. 

“Don’t worry. We’ve got a nice supply,” Percy responds, wrapping an arm around Jason’s shoulders. 

“Percy, not in front of the kids,” Jason complains, and he’s not embarrassed until he sees Piper giggling behind her hand. That’s when he feels the blush creep onto his face.

Leo’s earlier snide comments flash to his mind: _She might think you’re gay._

God, Jason hopes she doesn’t think that.

Annabeth’s gift is the next pulled out from under the tree. When the Stolls hand it over to her, Percy’s shoulders tense and he intently stares as she grabs it. She looks weary, probably expecting another gag gift, but Jason knows it’s much more than that. She carefully tears away the wrapping paper, tilting her head slightly as she gazes down at her present. 

“What’d you get?” Piper asks curiously, resting her head on the blonde’s shoulders.

Annabeth uses her hands to brush her hair behind her ears, ducking her head as she stares down at the gift. Jason knows what the vinyl looks like given that he was the one to wrap it, but she isn’t showing off like others did, which makes the team look over in curiosity. Jason’s never seen Annabeth so reserved before and the sight is almost comforting; she _does_ have a sensitive side, after all.

“An album I like. It’s nice,” she says in a neutral voice.

Due to her lack of a reaction, the team turns their attention away from her as the Stolls hand a present to Lee. But Jason can see her gray eyes flicker to Percy and there’s a ghost of a smile on her lips. This seems to appease Percy, who relaxes instantly. If Jason wasn’t sitting so close, he wouldn’t be able to tell that Percy’s blushing.

“Happy now?” Jason asks under his breath as Annabeth turns away.

“Shut up,” is Percy’s mumbled reply.

Everything is right for just one moment until Connor says, “Piper, your turn!” 

 _Oh, fuck._ Jason’s entire body stiffens and he’s thankful the team is too immersed in the gift opening process to look at him. He can feel the heat travel from his cheeks to the tips of his ears and he rubs his hands against his jeans, trying to wipe away some of the sweat that’s formed.

“Relax,” Percy whispers. “You’re gonna combust if you keep this up.”

Piper sits up, reaching over and taking the small box into her hands. It’s tiny, topped with a red bow that oddly resembles the bow on Leo’s sweater. She carefully takes the bow off and presses it to Annabeth’s chest, which makes Annabeth sigh, before tearing the wrapping paper away. Although it’s clearly too small to be a sex toy, she looks confused and almost worried, a crease forming between her eyebrows, which scrunch together as she takes the top off the box.

Jason wants to evaporate because for just a moment, she just stares at the box, which immediately makes him assume that she hates it. There goes his chance at impressing her.

But after a few seconds, Piper lifts her hand up to her face to partially cover her mouth, though Jason can see the smile that bubbles to her lips. At once, a surge of relief floods his body and he relaxes because it’s obvious that she likes it. Maybe even loves it.

“What is it?” Leo asks, leaning forward to try and look at it.

Piper doesn’t answer, she just sits there and stares down at the box with the most beautiful smile on her face. Finally, Annabeth reaches forward and takes the box from her friend’s hand. At once, Annabeth’s look of confusion morphs into one of pleasant surprise and she smiles as well. 

“A charm for her bracelet,” Annabeth answers easily. “Her number’s engraved on it.” She wordlessly takes Piper’s wrist and attaches the circular charm onto the bracelet.

“This is so sweet,” Piper says. “Whoever got this for me, thank you.”

Maybe Piper doesn’t know it’s from Jason, which is almost as stressful as the alternative of her knowing. Before he can be sent into a panic, Percy leans over and whispers, “Don’t worry, she knows.” 

“How do you know?” Jason mumbles back as the Stolls hand Katie her gift.

“I just know. She _has_ to know.” Percy shrugs and offers his friend a smile. “She liked it, didn’t she?”

Jason nods and tries not to stare at Piper, but the suspense is too great. She’s fiddling with her bracelet, her fingers skimming over the new addition.

“And finally,” Travis says once Katie’s done opening her present, “we’ve reached the last present.”

Connor nods, groaning dramatically as he grabs a long, slender box from where it leans against the wall. It’s easily the biggest box of the night, a massive green bow stuck in the center of it. He drags the box until Travis’s free hand can grab it as well, the two of them working together to maneuver it away from the tree. “This is for you, Jason,” Connor says as he squints at the label. 

“That’s one big dildo,” Leo deadpans. The team laughs halfheartedly but is too interested in what’s in the box to really take it to heart.

What _is_ in the box? Jason reaches forward and with the help of the Stolls, he lowers the box onto the ground and stares at it. His name is written in small writing and he isn’t sure if he recognizes the handwriting or not. Part of him assumes maybe it _is_ a really big dildo, but the rational side of him knows it’s something better than some raunchy sex toy.

“Hurry up and open it or I will,” Malcolm complains.

“Alright, alright, fine.” Jason begins to tear away the wrapping paper, carelessly throwing it aside. It reveals a box with no logo or anything on it, so he’s just as stumped as he is when he saw the box.

When Jason opens the box, all he can think is _holy fuck._

Inside the box lays a brand new hockey stick. When he says brand new, he means _brand new_. The paint is shiny and glossy and he can just imagine how it’ll feel when he uses it on the ice. It’s white, blue stripes painted onto the butt and the bottom of the shaft, just before the blade. On the heel of the stick, he can see _GRACE 1_ painted in red letters. It’s the nicest hockey stick he’s seen gifted to a college player. The only thing he can compare the quality of this is to NHL and Olympic equipment.

“Hey, this definitely exceeds the price limit,” Travis says in an accusing voice, though his words are hollow, clearly just as surprised as Jason is. 

Jason’s almost too mesmerized to take it out of the box, but he reaches in and hesitantly takes it into his hands. He turns it over repeatedly, unable to do anything except stare at it. This is a hockey stick straight from his dreams. He never thought he’d own one like this during his college career. Maybe if he were ever to be drafted into the NHL he’d have a stick like this, but _now_? In college? He’s supposed to be a broke kid living off ramen. That’s the American college life. His head spins and he can’t believe this is real.

_Who the fuck? What the fuck?_

“Okay, didn’t need to flex on us,” Leo scoffs but his eyes are just as wide as Jason’s. “Damn, Grace, you’re _really_ gonna impress the ladies with that.” 

“I—” Jason can’t even form words at this point. He doesn’t realize his hands are shaking until he lowers the stick into the box. “Uh, thank you.” He winces because the emotion is clear in his voice. “I, uh, really don’t know what to say, honestly. This is the nicest thing anyone could have gotten me.”

“There goes someone’s tuition,” Katie notes.

_Holy fuck._

The team is still staring at the brand new hockey stick in shock, an unspoken buzz filling the apartment. Jason has a good relationship with everyone on the team (except for Annabeth), but he can’t imagine who would spend so much money on him when the Secret Santa price limit was only fifty dollars and this… _Holy fuck._

Clearly annoyed, Clarisse groans and stands up. “While you guys stare at a piece of equipment we see on a daily basis, I’m getting a drink,” she announces.

At that, the team snaps out of their reverie and everyone disperses. Lee starts playing some awful Christmas music remixes, which receives lots of complaints, while others head to the kitchen to get drinks.

Jason, however, stays on the ground, staring at the hockey stick. Who cared about him this much to get him a gift this expensive?

As if reading his mind, Percy says gently, “Dude… Piper did that.”

“What?” Jason blinks and looks up at Percy’s face, the amazement clear on his features. “Why would you say that?”

“Who else would do this?” Percy gestures to the hockey stick. “I didn’t rig it in her favor, I swear, but she did that.” 

“There’s no way,” Jason says numbly, though the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks Percy’s right.

_Piper did that._

Jason looks over to where Piper had been sitting and instead meets Reyna’s eyes. She has a hell of a poker face that could rival even Annabeth’s, her dark eyes studying his face as if she’s peering into his soul. It’s almost unsettling, but a tiny smile forms on her lips as her gaze drops down to the hockey stick in front of him, almost as if she’s confirming his suspicions.

 _Holy fuck,_ Piper _did that._

He puts the hockey stick away in the safety of his room before coming back out and rejoining the party. He may be there physically, but his mind is racing along with his heart. Even when people try to include him in their conversations, he just nods along and tries his hardest not to look at Piper, whose fingers are constantly fiddling with her bracelet. Each time he can’t help himself and glances over, her gaze is elsewhere, something he’s thankful for because if their eyes were to meet, he’s not sure he’d be able to hold back from doing something stupid.

The party comes to its natural end when the alcohol runs out. The team starts pouring out of the apartment, biding each other safe travels home for the break. Percy tells them all to exercise if they can as he walks them out to their cars, which causes some eye rolls, but Jason isn’t too concerned with their exercise routines. They may complain, but they’re pretty dedicated. 

Soon enough, three people are left— Piper, Annabeth, and Reyna. Jason hates to think it, but he wishes the other two people would leave so he can be alone with Piper. 

Reyna looks at Piper. “Are you sober?”

Piper rolls her eyes. “I haven’t drank in hours. You can perform a sobriety test on me. I swear I’m sober.” 

“You said _sobriety_ without stuttering, so I’m convinced.” Reyna grips her car keys and stands. She eyes Jason next and he’s taken back to the beginning of the party in the kitchen as she says, “If I find out she was drunk—”

“I’ll make sure she gets home safe,” Jason says without thinking. He nervously looks at Annabeth, but she’s on her phone and probably not paying attention. “Don’t worry.”

“Alright.” Reyna gives Piper a side hug and nods at Jason. “See you guys after break.”

As soon as Reyna exits the apartment, Percy re-enters from walking a group out to their cars. Annabeth glances up expectantly and he says quickly, “I’ll walk you out.”

“I can manage,” Annabeth replies, but her tone doesn’t match her words. As she slings her purse over her shoulder and walks to the door, she doesn’t complain as Percy follows her out of the apartment. 

Jason is alone in the apartment with Piper, who suddenly looks over at him with a soft smile on her face, and it’s all too much. He wants to ask her about the hockey stick, he really does, but he’s too overwhelmed to ask about it now. Not with the possibility of Percy walking back into the apartment at any given moment. He won’t take too long saying goodbye to Annabeth with Piper still here.

Instead, he asks, “What’re your plans over break?”

If she’s disappointed with the question, she doesn’t show it. She leans against the arm of the couch, gazing up at him with her warm brown eyes, the intensity of her gaze making him want to let his guard down. “I’m flying back home tomorrow morning,” she answers. “Reyna’s heading home tonight, though. She managed to get a late flight and trusted herself enough not to get totally hammered to board a plane.” 

“Flying? Where’s home?”

“Malibu.”

“No kidding.” Jason laughs. “I live in Westwood.”

“Really?” Piper asks excitedly. “You’re, what, thirty minutes away from me?”

“Yeah. I’m flying home tomorrow afternoon.”

“We’re going to have to hang out over break.” 

His heart beats a little faster at that. “You’d want to?”

“Of course.” She smiles and he’s finding it hard not to step closer to her. “I mean, if you’re not busy.”

“No, no. I want to,” he admits. “My sister’s a busy person. She won’t be able to hang out with me every second of break.”

Piper’s features soften. “Yeah, of course. My dad’s probably going to be pretty busy, too.”

“Holidays are the best, aren’t they?” he asks dryly.

“I don’t always mind them. You just have to surround yourself with the right people.”

 _Is she saying_ I’m _the right person to be around?_ Jason doesn’t want to get his hopes up, but she’s smiling at him and he’s almost convinced he isn’t making this up.

“I didn’t know you were a California girl,” he offers, not wanting to break the flow of conversation.

“Born and raised.”

“Growing up as a hockey player in California is—”

“The worst?” She laughs softly. “Tell me about it. I love Malibu, but hockey is everything to me. This place almost makes me want to become a New York girl.”

“Even with the snow?”

“Ugh. Maybe not the snow. I thought I was going to crash the first time I drove in it.” She rolls her eyes. “It’s the worst. I’ll take wildfires over snow any day.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time there’s a fire,” he teases, marveling as she throws her head back and laughs at his joke.

Silence settles between them and although it’s not awkward, he can feel the tension fill the room. Except it’s not bad like it is with Annabeth; he wonders if Piper wants to reach out for him as much as he wants to reach for her.

The charm idea had been a boyfriend-y gift. He hadn’t expected anything from her and it just so happened she’d gotten him for Secret Santa, too. In exchange, she’d given him a girlfriend-y present.

_No romantic relationships should occur between two team members._

Jason may respect the hell out of Chiron, but he wants to break the rules more than anything.

Before he can do or say something stupid, the door opens and Percy enters. He blinks in surprise at Piper, evidently forgetting that she’d stuck around. The surprise is quickly replaced with a knowing smirk. 

“Do you need a ride home, Piper?” Percy asks kindly, though Jason can hear the suppressed excitement in his voice.

“Oh, no,” Piper answers kindly. “I feel bad you two have to clean up alone. I wanted to stay and help you guys get this place back in order.”

“That’s too kind, but you’re actually going to have to tackle the apartment with Jason.” Percy feigns a tone of disappointment. “I’m exhausted, I’m going to head to bed.”

 _Of course._ Jason wishes he can explicitly thank his friend, or die of embarrassment because Percy isn’t being subtle whatsoever, but instead he just says, “Alright, sleep well.”

“I will. I’ll sleep with earbuds in!” Percy winks and walks backward in the direction of his room, the smirk clear on his face as his hands form finger guns. He pretends to shoot them both repeatedly until he disappears out of sight, the door shutting behind him. 

Although Jason’s embarrassed over his roommate’s antics, Piper laughs. “Hopefully this won’t take long so you can head to bed, too,” she says, pushing herself from against the couch. She grabs the large trash bag from its spot in the center of the living room, opening it and reaching down to start throwing the wrapping paper away. 

Jason knows he should start cleaning. She’s here to help, after all. But he’d be an idiot to keep pushing off the question that’s burning within him.

“How much was the hockey stick?”

She looks up at him and her sheepish smile says it all— she’s behind the gift. It makes him feel warm all over and he wishes he had the courage to sweep her off her feet in a dramatic fashion and kiss her until he’s gasping for air. If she bought him the hockey stick, she has to care about him as much as he cares about her, which is equally relieving and terrifying.

“What gave me away?” she asks, pushing aside the trash bag even though she only just picked it up. She stands in the center of the living room, her fingers flashing up to play with her bracelet. He can see the charm he’d given her, the 14 clear as day.

“I don’t think anyone else cares about me that much,” he admits. “That and you can afford it.”

“Was that a rich joke?” She arches an eyebrow and she tries for a playful smile, but he can see the nervous twitch in her lips.

“You didn’t need to spend that much money on me. Really.”

“I wanted to.”

“That must’ve cost a few hundred _at least_. I really don’t need a new hockey stick, Piper. You should return it and—”

“Jason.” She takes a step closer to him. “I _want_ you to have it. You deserve it. You love hockey and…” She falters and she bites down on her bottom lip. “I wanted to give you something meaningful. I just didn’t have the guts to do it without using Secret Santa as my excuse. I’m just so lucky I got you.”

He wordlessly stares at her, contemplating between closing the distance between them or letting the tension grow until one of them is too impatient and does something about it. There’s the internal battle again; will his rational oath to captainship beat out the fact that this girl owns his heart already? 

“Plus.” She takes another half-step forward. She’s so close now that she’s only an arm's length away. “You got me something meaningful.”

“You knew it was me?”

“You’re the only one other than Annabeth and Reyna who knows the story behind the bracelet.” She smiles softly, her eyes twinkling. “You’re also the only person who’d get me a charm for it.”

“Do you like it?” he asks slowly, trying to ignore how clammy his hands suddenly are. 

She doesn’t answer, she just takes another half-step forward.

His nerves get the best of him, so he starts rambling. “I mean, I get it’s from your dad, so it’s a touchy subject, but I can tell you care about it. It means a lot to you. I just didn’t want to get you something that meant something, but I wasn’t sure. I mean, we’re friends, yeah, but I still feel like I’m getting to know you, so I’d totally understand if you hated it. I can return it if you don’t like it, I wouldn’t mind, I swear, I—” 

“Jason.” She’s so close now, her face just inches away from his. Her breath smells like a mixture of candy canes and eggnog.

His heart is hammering in his chest. “Yes?” 

“Shut up.”

Before he can think straight, her arms wrap around his shoulders and she angles her face up until he feels her lips press to his. He doesn’t hesitate to bring his hands up to her hips, holding her there and soaking in the fact that this is _real_. Here he is, giving into the temptation, allowing his heart to win the ruthless battle over his head. All rationality and self-control go out the window as he focuses solely on kissing her. Her lips taste like peppermint and are just as soft as he’s imagined them, which also brings back the influx of memories of the persistent daydreams that’d plagued his mind for weeks. Yet every expectation pales in comparison to this moment. He feels like he could melt from the heat coursing through his body, engulfing him in a fiery embrace.

Even after their lips part, she doesn’t unwind her arms from around him and he keeps his hands on her hips. Their foreheads press together and when he opens his eyes, hers are already open and looking up at him.

Chiron’s warnings about relationships replay in his mind again, but they echo hollowly. He should feel guilty but he doesn’t. He feels nothing except for a ridiculous amount of happiness.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Jason breathes out.

Piper laughs and unwinds her arms from around him. He tightens his grip on her hips, keeping her close, so she settles her hands on his shoulders. Now that they’ve kissed, he doesn’t want to break the contact. Not now, not ever. It’s taken them months to get here and he certainly isn’t going to give up the moment so easily.

“It _is_ about time,” she agrees warmly. “I just didn’t imagine you in that awful sweater.”

He laughs and feels his cheeks heat up even more. His ears feel like they can catch fire at any given moment. “You’re talking,” he shoots back playfully. 

She raises her eyebrows at him. “My sweater is better than yours.”

“You wish, McLean.”

He wants to stay here forever, his hands on her hips and hers on his shoulders. This feels like the most natural thing in the world, maybe only second to how he feels on the ice, situated in front of the goal. The adrenaline is certainly the same; his heart is pounding and he feels invincible. 

But Percy is just one room away and Piper has a flight in the morning, which means this embrace is only temporary. There’s the unspoken message between them that this can’t last all night even though they both want it to.

“I want to do that again, but I don’t think we can,” Piper mumbles, suddenly looking scared. She may be happy-go-lucky, but Jason would be stupid to think she doesn’t care about defying her coaches as much as he does. She may not be captain, but she has just as much to give up as him.

He moves one hand from her hip to her chin, tilting her head up so their eyes meet. “Hey.” He smiles and she forces one back at him. “The coaches don’t have to find out.” 

“They don’t?” 

“They don’t.” Jason cups her cheek in his hand and she leans into the touch, the sight so adorable that he wants to melt in her arms. “We don’t have to tell anyone.”

“Yeah?” She chews nervously on her bottom lip.

“We’re going on break, anyway. We won’t see the team for a month. We’ll be in California. Nobody will find out unless we want them to.”

“You’re right.” Piper smiles and she nods once. “I just… I _really_ want to do that again.”

He swears he can feel electricity flying between them as he traces his thumb along her cheekbone. “I do, too. Just not tonight. You have to fly home tomorrow.”

“You’re right.” She sighs and smiles apologetically as she pulls away. She heads in the direction of the door and he follows closely behind. As she opens the door, she looks back up at him and asks softly, “Maybe we can do that just one more time tonight?”

He chuckles and nods. “One more time won’t hurt,” he agrees, his heart fluttering as she stands on her toes to press a quick kiss to his lips. 

The kiss is too short. Piper pulls away and as if on instinct, she reaches up and touches her lips. “Goodnight, Jason,” she says quietly, smiling as she steps out of the apartment. 

“Goodnight, Piper.”

He doesn’t close the door until she disappears down the hallway. He shuts the door and locks it, exhaling heavily as he smiles, not moving for a few moments.

A door opens from behind him and Percy’s voice tentatively calls out, “Are you decent? Am I going to slip on a used condom?”

Jason turns around to see Percy walking out into the living room. “I thought you were sleeping with earbuds in,” he deadpans. 

“Nah. I was listening for moans. Didn’t hear anything.” Percy sits on the couch and looks excitedly up at Jason. “So. What happened? Did you guys talk? Did you kiss? Tell me everything!” 

 _We don’t have to tell anyone._ Jason’s own words replay in his mind.

He wants to tell Percy. He really does— this is his best friend and co-captain who _wants_ Jason to be with Piper. Percy’s infinitely better with girls and Jason feels like he needs to gush to someone about his kiss with Piper. 

But Percy didn’t trust Jason with Annabeth until the Halloween party, and that was only because they didn’t lock the door. 

Jason feels guilty for the first time since the kiss. As captain, he’s supposed to lead his team. He’s supposed to not only follow but enforce the rules. What kind of captain is he if _he’s_ the one breaking the rules?

There’s also the looming fact that while Percy has feelings for Annabeth, they’re not dating. It’s strictly friends with benefits. Jason knows his situation with Piper is the opposite. There are feelings, and a _lot_ of them. This is not a no strings attached thing. Although he hasn’t broken a rule _yet_ , given the fact that he and Piper hadn’t officiated anything, this certainly isn’t following the rules, either.

Jason’s given up so much to step up to be Percy’s co-captain. He’s pushed aside all feelings, kept Percy’s secret, and dealt with Annabeth’s attitude while Percy sat by and did nothing about it. Sure, maybe Percy tried to diffuse the situation once or twice, but Annabeth is relentless with her hatred for Jason. As much as Percy tries to be indifferent, not only has he undermined Jason as a captain, he’s also picked Annabeth over Jason more than once. Most of all, Percy’s picked himself over Jason more than once.

Jason decides to pick himself for once.

“Nothing,” he lies easily. While he usually can’t lie to save his life, he finds this lie effortless. “She was just being a good friend, Percy. Nothing more.” 

A look of disappointment floods Percy’s face. “Really?” he asks sadly. “Damn. I was hoping for a good conversation or at least a _kiss._ I’m sorry, man. That sucks.”

“Yeah.” Jason shrugs and tries to look crestfallen. “Oh, well. Rules are rules.”

“Right.” Percy shakes his head once and sighs. “Rules are rules.”

As Jason looks at his best friend, he can’t help but to wonder how Percy had been okay with lying to Jason for so long— it’s been just moments since the lie’s been formulated and Jason feels sick. He wants to tell Percy more than anything, but he’d told Piper they’d keep the kiss a secret.

If this is what Jason has to do to be with Piper, so be it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **And if there's a cure, I'm not even sure I want it  
>  There's no better thing with which to fill my brain than you  
> You're in my head, you're in my head again **
> 
> And to think, just last update everyone was convinced Percabeth was the 'secret relationship' tag...  
> This chapter was one of my favorite things I've ever written, I apologize after the fact for completely monopolizing it. It was outrageously fun to write all the group dynamics and stuff, plus the ending? My favorite thing ever. Emma and I can safely say this is our favorite chapter to date and we hope you guys like it as much as we do! All your encouraging comments here and on tumblr are so sweet and inspire us to keep writing. We absolutely love this fic, it's our love child, and we hope we continue to impress you guys with it. There's still so much left to come, especially with Jason now keeping a secret...  
> Songs for this chapter are Stupid For You // Waterparks and You're In My Head // Rusty Clanton for Jason, plus St. Patrick // PVRIS and Reckless Love // Bleachers for Percy. 


	5. There's No Way That It's Not Going There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW Warning: This chapter contains explicit sex.
> 
> **But there’s no way that it’s not going there  
>  With the way that we’re looking at each other.  
> We just dance backwards into each other  
> Trying to keep our feelings secretly covered.**

Objectively speaking, Jason is not breaking the rules. Chiron said _no dating_. Jason certainly isn’t dating Piper; there’d just been the coffee dates and the talking and the inability to go more than twenty-four hours without seeing her and the kissing and—

 _Oh my god_. Jason is definitely breaking the rules.

He hadn’t planned winter break going the way it went. It just so happened Piper lived thirty minutes away and they wanted to see each other most days. Although they didn’t explicitly state they were official, they acted like it. Nobody from Eastview would have even the slightest clue what they did in California, which Jason is thankful for, because if they _knew_ about the making out in the backseat of her dad’s car…

If he isn’t _technically_ breaking the rules, why does he feel so guilty about it?

But being with Piper is worth the risk. The little things she does reaffirm this, like when she meets Thalia and immediately hits it off, or the way she smiles up at him after they kiss at midnight to ring in the new year, or how she takes him to the skating rink where she played hockey for the first time. He just wants to be with her all the time, which is as maddening as it is refreshing.

In fact, he doesn’t even think about the rules while he’s with her. It doesn’t strike him that _hey, maybe this is disobeying Chiron and Hedge_ until he unlocks his apartment door and Percy is there, smiling like everything’s normal, and then it hits Jason that nothing is normal. Not anymore. Normality ceased to the exist the second Piper took off her helmet after tryouts. He’d just been too dumb to realize it at the time.

Jason also feels guilty when he tells Percy about how his break went. Percy goes on about how nice it was to be home with his family and Jason simply offers up that although Thalia had been busy a lot, he’d had a pleasant break.

He just fails to mention break had been so nice because he spent ninety percent of it with Piper.

There’s the initial fear of getting caught when they come back to New York. Both Jason and Piper acknowledge this wordlessly, choosing not to discuss it; rather they exchange worried glances instead. But the first practice after break comes and goes and they’ve hardly even glanced at each other, which grants him some relief. Maybe he can do this after all. Maybe they can keep a secret.

The first game, however, makes him doubt his abilities to hide whatever they have.

Pregame rituals are popular among the Eastview hockey team. Whether it be some weird exercise, or a pep talk, Jason is observant enough to notice all the little things his teammates do to prepare themselves for upcoming games. For example, Percy gets water poured over his head and makes a big show out of it by shaking his hair out or by hugging Jason to get him wet as well. Annabeth separates her skittles by color, eating each color before moving onto the next, and she finishes the bag before each game. Even Jason has his own ritual; he has a playlist of songs to pump him up before hitting the ice. It usually soothes over any nerves he may or may not have for the upcoming game.

His ritual does not not relax him before their first game of the semester. In fact, rituals are going to be the reason he _isn’t_ focused.

Except it’s not his ritual that gives him hell. It’s Piper’s.

Naturally, he’s even more aware of her now, given they spent the entirety of winter break together. He doesn’t mean to be so invested in her actions, but his brain is fine-tuned to pick up all of her actions, which is a bad thing considering this is a game setting. He needs to be focused on his game; the team hasn’t played a game in a month. Focus is crucial. His playlist should help him focus on the task at hand.

He is focused until Piper starts her pregame ritual.

She’s told him repeatedly that stretching calms her down before a game. Lots of them are yoga inspired, she claims. He’d never zeroed in on her so intensely until now.

The music blaring in his ears fades into background noise as he watches Piper lift her arms over her head, her sweatshirt hitching up slightly and that’s when he knows he’s in trouble. He tries to focus on the lyrics but now she’s bringing her arms down, fingers extended as she bends down and— _oh my god_. She reaches down and touches her toes effortlessly and his face burns because he’s never noticed how nice those Nike joggers look on her.

He squeezes his eyes shut and is so thankful his hood is pulled up; maybe it’s blocking his face.

Someone nudges Jason and he nearly has a heart attack. He opens his eyes and sees that it’s Percy, hair damp, evidently just returning from dumping water on his head. Jason removes an earbud, keeping one in, a vain attempt to focus on his music again.

“You good? You’re looking a little… tense,” Percy murmurs, raising his eyebrows as a knowing smirk appears on his face.

“I’m fine.” Jason’s voice is strained, contradicting his words completely.

“Uh huh. _Fine_.”

“Fine,” Jason repeats, but his voice has been reduced to a whisper as Piper bends over again. He has to push the mental image of them making out in the backseat of her dad’s Maserati out of his head.

“You’re not fine, but you surely think something else is.” Percy is enjoying Jason’s weakness. “Just focus on me, alright?”

Another surge of guilt floods through Jason again because he feels like he’s breaking a rule. Each time he feels this, he reassures himself there are no rules broken— _yet_. He and Piper’s relationship doesn’t have an official title. That makes him feel guilty enough as it is, but then Percy is here trying to distract him. Jason has to remind himself that Percy had done the same thing to alleviate some of the guilt. (It doesn’t work.)

Percy situates himself in Jason’s line of vision, grinning widely. He must think Jason’s admiring from afar, although Jason can attest he’s done _plenty_ of admiring up close. Here he is, thinking he’s saving his friend from embarrassment in front of a crush, though Jason knows Piper isn’t just his crush anymore. People don’t kiss (a lot) and hang out all the time and go back to being mutual crushes. This whole situation would be so much easier if the no dating rule didn’t exist.

While Percy is trying to be a good friend, he’s angled himself perfectly in front of Jason so Piper is right behind him. From where Jason sits, he can still see Piper stretching just over Percy’s shoulder.

“Really?” Jason hisses, feeling the heat travel to his ears. He wishes he can bury himself in his sweatshirt or pull the drawstrings to tighten the hood so he can hide his face.

“What?” Percy asks innocently.

“You’re an ass.”

“Your music may pump you up, but _she_ is motivation,” Percy says quietly, wiggling his eyebrows.

Jason groans and shoves in his other earbud, turning the volume up all the way. He closes his eyes and tries to push Piper out of his head.

He finds it harder than usual to keep his mind on the game while on the ice. Although Piper is now in her jersey, the padding hiding all her curves, he still can see the image of her stretching. He blocks pucks with a little more intensity than usual, taking the frustration out on the ice. And thank god he has all this frustration— the team is tough. Thankfully for Jason, the pregame ritual has him on edge, not allowing any shots to go past him.

 _Focus_ , Jason thinks to himself, shaking his head as if in a daze as the puck comes close to the goal. He can’t let the thought of his girl-something’s ass cloud his thoughts when he needs to be thinking about hockey.

Hockey. Puck. Goal. Padding. Stick. Winning. All good hockey related things. None of them pertaining to Piper.

_Good job. Focus is good. Focus wins games._

Piper comes into his line of vision, darting through opponents. She slaps her stick on the ice and Frank passes the puck up to her. As soon as it’s in her possession, she turns around and makes a break for the opposite goal.

She may be fully padded, but he still swears he can see those damn joggers.

During the first intermission, rather than Percy pouring water over his head, Jason is the one who unscrews his water bottle and allows the water to trickle down his face.

“Hot?” Percy asks, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Weird. You didn’t even touch the puck this period. You getting sick or something?”

Jason can’t even form words at this point. He grits his teeth and wishes he could retreat back under the hood of his sweatshirt.

To only make matters worse, Piper shoots him a concerned glance as they go back on the ice when intermission ends. “Are you okay?” she asks gently, adjusting the visor over her face. “You look… I don’t know. Weird?”

“I’m fine.” But that is a lie. Jason is not fine. He is thankful for the extra padding because all he can think of is her ass, which he hates to do because he respects Piper and certainly did not start liking her for such vain reasons, but her ass is a plus. He’d be lying to himself if he said he _didn’t_ stare at her ass. He just doesn’t want to think about it in front of the whole team.

“Are you sure?” She doesn’t look convinced.

Another image of them making out in her dad’s backseat flashes to his mind. He’s pretty sure he grabbed her ass in that Maserati.

“Positive.” Jason hopes she can’t see his blush beneath his helmet as he skates towards the goal.

Jason has to focus really hard on the game after that. The following two periods are filled with lots of self-discipline and only the thought of the wrath of his team finding out about whatever the hell Jason’s relationship to Piper is keeps him on edge. Just imagining Hedge coming after him with his baseball bat keeps those damn Nike joggers out of his mind.

When the final buzzer blares, signaling their win, Percy claps Jason on the back and whispers gleefully, “Told you she’s motivation.”

“Shut up, Percy,” is Jason’s mumbled reply as they make their way to the locker room.

Once the adrenaline runs out, Jason’s mind is engulfed with the guilt again. He’s captain, which means he needs to lead by example. Captains need to exude respect, discipline, courage. Jason used to think he was all of those things, but then the no dating rule ended up being the thing to test his leadership qualities. And even though he technically isn’t dating his teammate, he might as well be, hence the crushing guilt. The guilt outweighs everything else in his life, including his padding, which is pretty damn heavy.

But as he looks over to Piper, who meets his eyes from across the locker room, he knows maybe it’s better to feel the guilt than be away from her.

As per usual, the rest of the team finishes changing before him. Jason doesn’t mind, though. In fact, it’s convenient, because as soon as Lee leaves, who had been the last person in the locker room, he knows he’s safe. He pulls on his sweatshirt and hauls his bag over his shoulder, exiting the locker room.

At once, Piper appears at his side, a skip in her step because now they’re alone. He smiles over at her, the guilt taking a backseat as the suppressed excitement overtakes any other emotion. It doesn’t ebb away as they walk into the parking lot, putting their bags in his trunk before they climb into the car.

 _This_ is breaking the rules, he thinks hazily as she casually reaches for his hand as he drives out of the arena parking lot. They’d deliberately waited until the team left before leaving together, and since Percy is going to Annabeth’s and Reyna is going to hang out with some friends, Jason doesn’t feel pressed for time. He can spend all night with Piper if he wants to, which makes him remember her pregame stretching.

“Not to sound like a douche, but your stretching before the game really threw me off,” he says easily, glancing over at her as he drives in the direction of her place.

Piper blinks, gazing at him with a confused look on her face. “What do you mean?”

“Joggers, Piper. _Joggers_.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m going to wear comfortable clothes before the game.”

“You _bent over_ in _joggers_. You bent over in _tight_ joggers.”

“Oh.” Realization dawns on her face and she bursts out laughing. “You mean to tell me you were distracted by my ass, Jason?”

“I’m not confirming or denying anything.”

“Oh my god. You were _so_ staring at my ass!” She gasps dramatically. “I feel scandalized.”

He groans as he parks the car in front of her apartment. He gives her a weary look, shaking his head. “You’re going to be the death of me. I could hardly focus on the game.”

“You didn’t give up any goals, though.”

“Yeah, only because I knew if I didn’t focus, we’d lose.”

Piper laughs again and she shakes her head, squeezing his fingers. “Do you want me to stretch somewhere else next game?”

“Yes, please,” Jason replies quickly. “We can’t risk _that_ again.”

“Man, and I’m all about risk,” she teases. “I was even gonna invite you inside.”

“You were?”

“Yeah.” Her voice suddenly feigns a tone of disappointment. “Reyna isn’t home, so I thought it’d be a good idea. She says no boyfriends allowed, but since you’re not my boyfriend…” She trails off and gives him an expectant smile.

 _Since I’m not her boyfriend?_ His heart pounds and his mouth feels dry, though he can feel himself fighting a smile. He gives in and grins at her, realizing slowly what she’s implying. She wants him to be her boyfriend.

The title _boyfriend_ is a loaded one. There’d been so much ambiguity surrounding his relationship with her over winter break, but with this, there’s no denying that they’re about to break a rule. He isn’t sure what the coaches will do if the rule is broken and Jason doesn’t want to think about the possibilities. He’s also certain being captain won’t cut him any slack; if anything, being captain and breaking this rule will probably produce more ramifications compared to any other player who broke the same rule.

But Jason is staring at Piper, who’s grinning back at him, her brown eyes holding a playful challenge, yet he can detect the hidden nervousness in her eyes. _She_ wants _him_ to be her boyfriend. This is the girl who makes him forget he’s captain, makes him forget the pressure, makes him feel grounded and whole and _happy_.

He can’t continue to push aside his own happiness for a rule implemented to keep peace when she’s his peace. She is the calm after the storm, she is the music blasting in his ears to calm him down before a game, she is the feeling when his skates hit the ice.

So in that moment, Jason decides to cross the line and push aside his guilt to really break the rules.

“Not to hurt my chances of coming in, but I _really_ want to be your boyfriend,” he says playfully, but he means every word.

Her eyes light up and she smiles so wide it looks like it hurts. She leans in and kisses him for so long that by the time she pulls away, his head spins and his breathing is a little heavier than usual.

“I guess I just won’t tell Reyna,” she murmurs, unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching for the door handle. “Just gotta be sneaky.”

He’s never gone inside her apartment before, he realizes as he gets out of his car. He can just feel his cheeks blaze red and he knows if he tries to speak, he’ll stumble over his words. Stammering is the perfect way to impress his girlfriend.

 _Girlfriend_. He thinks of how she looks in her joggers and he says quickly, “We just played a full game, Pipes, I don’t think I want to—I mean, of course I _want_ to, I just don’t think _tonight_ is a good night. Trust me, I may have hinted at that, but I respect you and plus, Reyna can come home any minute and we only just started dating, so I really don’t want to get caught the night of, and—”

Piper holds up a hand and he stops talking at once. She laughs sweetly and waves him over. He sighs and walks in front of his car to where she’s standing, allowing her to put her hands on his shoulders.

“You are such a gentleman,” she says simply. “But no, Jason, I don’t want to have sex tonight, either.”

“You don’t?”

“God, no. I am _exhausted_. And sore. The only way you’ll put your hands on me tonight is if you rub my shoulders.”

He finds himself laughing and he nods. “Sounds good to me,” he murmurs, and as he follows her into her apartment, he finds that all the previous guilt inside of him is nowhere to be found.

***

Percy broke his first rule.

Okay, the ‘no feelings’ rule doesn’t count. That was doomed from the beginning. There was never any hope for him in that department.

But he wakes up in Annabeth’s apartment to the sound of her stirring beside him, and he knows that ‘no waking up together’ is crumbling before his eyes.

He cracks open a cautious eye to gauge how much danger he’s in if he makes a break for it now, and he’s met with the sight of his own last name in bold letters across her shoulders.

Any hope he had of leaving this room before she wakes up disappears as his heart leaps into his throat. Annabeth is wearing his jersey. Annabeth is wearing his last name.

He’s not okay. He’s _so_ not okay.

Since when do they sleep with clothes on? Percy evidently put his boxers on at some point before falling asleep, but he _distinctly_ recalls Annabeth pulling on his jersey after sex. He’s pretty sure nothing is ever going to erase that image from his mind; he’s never had to fight so hard to hold back from kissing her.

The press of clothes between their bodies is entirely foreign and somehow more intimate to Percy than waking up naked. He knows it’s supposed to be the other way around, that they’re doing everything backwards, but he uses the hand resting on her stomach to toy with the fabric of his jersey and suddenly he doesn’t give a shit about the order they do things in. As long as they get them done, he’ll be okay. That’s the thread he’s hanging from here, that they’ll get to be something at some point.

It’s just so hard to read between the lines with her. There are no lines to follow. For instance, their position right now: his arm around her waist, face pressed into her neck and knees tucked into the backs of hers. They’re _spooning_ , for god’s sake. This should be something sweet and intimate. He’s waking up with her in his arms, yet the only thing on his mind is the fact that her back is turned to him.

If Percy wasn’t so terrified of waking her, he would want a picture of this moment. But he can’t for far too many reasons, so he opens both of his eyes and drinks in Annabeth in front of him. In his jersey.

Daylight streams in from her window and lights her golden hair on fire. She looks like human sunshine, and the feeling of her unconsciously nuzzling back into his embrace has him firmly deciding that’s exactly what she is. Sunshine in the way it warms your face on a cold day, the way that people gravitate out of the shade to feel it on their skin. Sunshine in that too much without protection will burn you, but it’s worth it to bask for a while.

Also sunshine in that it’s a signal that he needs to leave her apartment as soon as possible.

Sneaking out of a bed without waking up Annabeth is a skill Percy often wishes he never needed to develop, but right now he wishes he was a whole hell of a lot better at it. He has no leverage to scoot away from her, so he ends up putting too much weight on the arm under her and tipping her body closer to his. The mattress dips and Annabeth’s shoulders go with it, bringing her face into sight just in time for her eyes to flicker open.

Despite months of sneaking out like this, Percy has never been caught in the middle of it. Especially not in a position as compromising as this one, with Annabeth’s body clad in his jersey and rolled under his, her face tantalizingly close. Her head tilts in confusion either at the fact that he’s still here or that he’s practically hovering above her.

“I overslept,” he swallows roughly, embarrassment blossoming in his chest.

“I see that.” Conflict swirls in Annabeth’s eyes as she gazes up at him, so he decides it’s best to get out of here before the situation gets any worse. She lets him straighten and stand by the side of her bed, her eyes on him all the while.

Percy’s heart pounds in his chest. Of all the times for her to be awake for his departure, this morning is by far the most nerve wracking he could’ve imagined. They didn’t exactly have the most _wholesome_ reason for sex last night. In fact, he’s pretty sure it was a terrible idea to have it in the first place, but he felt even more drawn to her last night than he had the first time.

They’d also fought last night (amongst other things).

“How’s your ankle?” He asks as he fishes around her floor for his pants, feeling more awkward with each agonizing second.

“Fine.” She says curtly, her tone telling him that more prodding will become a repeat of last night.

Percy can’t help the concern coursing through his body; she’d been _hurt_ last night. The opposing team was the dirtiest one they’ve faced this season, a place they’d firmly secured when one of their defensemen “lost control of” his stick and sent it flying towards Annabeth’s skates just before she would’ve scored the game winning goal. The team had watched Annabeth go down in slow motion, her ankle rotating at an awkward angle as she slammed into the ice. She stood tall during her penalty shot, but her balance was off and she shot too far to the right. Even with all of the pining Percy has done over the past four months, there’s never been a moment where he’s wished more strongly that he was her boyfriend. Then he would’ve had a valid reason to check on her and help her off the ice instead of watching her wave off help and awkwardly skate to the bench. He and Piper lead the rally after Annabeth was benched, and the game was soon an easy win.

He should’ve known not to approach Annabeth the moment she refused Piper. There was no way she was going to accept his help when she waved off her best friend. But like an idiot, he’d done it anyway.

The wide assortment of bruises and minor injuries meant that it took the team forever to file out of the locker room, which Percy was actually grateful for, seeing as it allowed him to wait for Annabeth to come out of her assessment without lingering too long. But judging by the look on her face when she came out of the office, it might’ve been best to leave with the others.

Annabeth had stormed past him without a glance, a slight limp in her step caused by the pain and the temporary brace visible in the bulk of her sock. Needless to say, she wasn’t thrilled when he tried to walk her out to her car. Her pride will be the death of him.

“ _Percy, if I need someone to mother me, I will call my mom myself._ ” She’d scowled at him in the parking lot.

They’d argued then, and though Percy had managed to avoid saying anything he couldn’t take back, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have regrets.

He may not have said anything about how worried he was, but he’s pretty sure she could figure out where he stands if she wants to. There’s just the question of if she wants to.

He’d played off his concern through rough, angry sex that isn’t new to them, but he couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his chest afterwards. All he wanted to do was take care of her in the moment, and that wasn’t even an option during sex due to the pace.

And now he’s standing in front of her after all that plus breaking one of their rules.

“Okay, I’m glad you’re feeling alright.” He nods quickly and snatches the sweatshirt she got him for Christmas off her floor. He’s started keeping a spare set of clothes in his car and his gym bag for situations like this. The shirt he wore under is somewhere in the mess of her room, but he’s got a long sleeve in his bag by the door.

“Thanks.” Annabeth sits up and snatches her phone off her bedside table. Percy pulls his thermal shirt out of his bag and over his head, the sweatshirt following close after. If only it wasn’t so cold in January, then he wouldn’t have to linger and pile on all these layers.

His eyes fall from Annabeth’s impossibly neutral face to the Eastview logo on her chest. “I am gonna need the jersey back though. Practice tomorrow and all.” Though her taking it off is about the last thing he wants, there’s no possible reason for her to have it. Even Jason shouldn’t know about that. As much as Percy trusts Jason and appreciates his help, he finds himself hiding the true extent of his feelings from Jason. He doesn’t like the pitying look he gets in response.

Annabeth looks down at the jersey as she responds. “Oh, yeah. Give me a second to get changed.” Though he’s seen Annabeth naked plenty of times, Percy gives her privacy as she puts on something else. He’s not sure he could keep his self control if he caught sight of her in that with it so plain that there’s nothing underneath it.

She taps him on the shoulder and he turns to see her in leggings and a new sweatshirt offering him the jersey. He takes it and wordlessly shoves it into his gym back, which he throws over his shoulder.

“Someone’s in a hurry.” Annabeth says, her voice more laughter than fire.

Percy is surprised by the humor; he has no idea what’s going through her head right now, and there’s no time to find out. “Yeah, don’t worry, I’m heading out now.”

“Listen, about last night—”

“I’ll get out of your hair, it’s alright.” Percy looks up from the floor and into her eyes, which harden slightly at his interruption.

“Oh, no, we’re both here and awake. Don’t walk out right now. And I’m _apologizing_ , by the way.” Annabeth crosses her arms and shifts her weight to one side, freezing him in place with her stare. When he doesn’t leave or respond, she sighs and continues. “My ankle is honestly fine, you don’t need to worry about me on the ice. I’ve taken worse hits than that. And I’m not sorry for refusing your help, but I _am_ sorry for the way I reacted after. You were just trying to help.” She pauses, a hint of a smile on her lips. “I’m definitely not sorry about the sex though.”

The whole time she speaks, Percy doesn’t react. He didn’t expect her to apologize at all. And he recognizes that her comment about sex is an attempt to make him crack a smile, but it stings more than anything else she said. That wasn’t the sex he wanted to have after she’d gotten hurt. He wanted to hold her in his arms and rock steadily against her, to have that slow, emotional sex that people have after something happens to the person they care about. Instead it’d been a fight, a rough, untameable thing that left him sitting in his feelings as she fell asleep peacefully beside him.

“It’s fine, Annabeth, honestly. You don’t have to apologize just because I’m still here. I’m heading out to the city for the day, so I’ve got to get going.” He makes an effort to pass her and leave the room, but she steps into his path.

Annabeth puts a gentle hand on his shoulder, her face softening slightly. “Are you okay?”

Percy shrugs and takes a step back from her, unable to focus with her hand on him. Her face contorts into one of frustration, and she steps forward with him.

“Okay, so that’s a no. What’s wrong?” She demands.

There’s no way in hell Percy is going to tell her what’s wrong right now, and he thinks she knows it. He looks at her blankly, for once wanting nothing more in this world than to leave, and she sighs like she understands.

“Look, I’m sorry. About _all_ of it. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that. And I can tell you’re worried about waking up late, but please don’t be. It’s not the end of the world, Percy. People oversleep, it happens. You don’t need to worry about it.” During her apology, her hand finds his, and he can’t deny the way his mood lifts. Judging by the sudden grin on her face, she knows it. But she doesn’t pull away. “Are we alright?”

“Yeah, we’re alright.” And he believes it. He knows apologizing takes a lot for her, especially when she doesn’t see the fault in her actions. For her to reassess her apology to soothe him means a lot, even if that’s not how it comes across on paper.

“Good. What’re you doing in the city today?” Annabeth slides her hand out of his and rocks back on her heels. She’s obviously trying to make up for the tension between them, so he answers.

“I don’t know yet. I went a week ago to see my mom and realized that I missed it a lot. I went home a lot more last season, but my schedule is such shit that I don’t get to do it much anymore. My mom and Paul are out of town this weekend, but I just wanted to go back to my city, you know? And since we actually have a Saturday off, I figured it would be a good time to go.” Percy looks up to see Annabeth ducking her chin to hide a nervous smile.

“Would you hate me if I said I’ve never spent more than a few hours there?” She scrunches up her nose.

Before Percy gets derailed with how adorable she looks right now, he looks at her incredulously. “Yes. Yes I would. You love architecture! How haven’t you gone for more than a few hours?! The buildings! The history! Street food! Oh my god, at least tell me you’ve been on the subway.”

“No subway, just a cab with Piper when she found a club she wanted to try. And I’ve been there for a few tournaments, but only on buses and at nighttime. Otherwise I’ve been too busy playing hockey or studying to take a day to see it right. And…” She trails off.

“And?”

“And I’ve never had someone to go with, I guess. Like, I could go with Piper, but you can’t tell me we wouldn’t get lost or killed. We’d never make it off the subway. Plus, I’d want to do it right. I don’t know any of the good local spots.” Her eyes dart down to the keys in his hand, and he thinks he sees a glimmer of hope in them before they take sudden interest in her dirty floor.

“Well, I _am_ a local.” He twirls his keys around his finger and lifts an eyebrow at her.

“No, I can’t ask you to take me last minute. Get a move on, enjoy your day.”

Percy rolls his eyes at her attempt at a dismissive tone. “You’re not asking, I’m offering. And I’ve got time.”

“Oh, so _now_ you’ve got time?” She teases, but he doesn’t miss the way she tries to curb her responding grin.

 _For you? Always._ “For this? Yeah, I’ve got time. Get dressed, Chase.”

Annabeth shoves him out of her room with a smile and a promise to be ready soon, so Percy plops down on her couch to wait.

His heart skips a couple beats when she comes out dressed for the January weather, a thick sweater with several layers peeking out of the collar when she bends down to pull on her boots. She’s pulled jeans on over her leggings and has her scarf and coat thrown over her arm.

“Ready?” Annabeth straightens up and tilts her head at him.

“Ready.”

As they get into his car, he’s struck with a sudden surge of anxiety. He and Annabeth have hung out a lot before (they don’t bang every single time they see each other, he swears), but never quite like… _this_. Hanging out with Annabeth consists of stolen moments: watching NHL games at her place, studying at the library on days they’re both on campus, conversations at parties and practices. This is nothing of the sort.

This is them going out of their way to see each other for a day trip to a place with incredible significance to Percy. It sounds an awful lot like a date.

Before he can get too swept up in his thoughts, he tosses Annabeth the aux and heads out for the interstate. Their little college town is about an hour and a half outside of NYC, so she has time to get a proper queue going. She shushes him when he tries to speak over the music, and she’s so excited about what’s playing that he can’t help but listen to her.

He isn’t sure what he expected from Annabeth’s music taste aside from the vinyl he got her for Secret Santa (which he did _not_ find from stalking her Spotify, thank you very much), but that’s about all he’s been able to get out of her. She doesn’t have many playlists, and they don’t exactly carpool like Jason and Piper. (Jason thinks he’s slick with that one, but Percy notices. He’s getting tired of all the emotional glances between them. Just date already.)

No two songs of hers sound the same, but they all have an underlying vibe that somehow screams Annabeth. Percy doesn’t know how to articulate it. He just hears the lyrics and thinks that it makes sense for her to listen.

It grows increasingly difficult to keep his eyes on the road as the drive goes on. At first Annabeth kept her singing limited to mumbling the lyrics, but as the ride goes on she grows more comfortable, dancing to the more upbeat songs and bobbing her head in the passenger seat. If Percy were any less careful about his driving, he’d stare, but he’s not about to do anything risky with her in the car.

Annabeth shoots him a wary look as he pulls into his mom’s parking spot outside of her apartment.

“Relax, she’s at Montauk. I’m just parking here for the day.” He says as her last song ends.

“For the day?”

“Yeah, _someone_ let it slip that they’ve never been on the subway. There’s a stop about a block away from here.”

Getting to the right platform is easy enough. Percy pulls her to a beat up map to explain the routes to her, but she squints at the barely legible letters and huffs in frustration. They manage to stick together through the thick crowd, her hand resting firmly on the small of his back, fisting in his jacket as he clears a path for them. One particularly shove-happy guy passes on their left, so Percy puts an arm out behind him and guides her closer to his right side. She slaps his shoulder for it, but it’s too half-hearted to be genuine frustration.

The proud and mighty Annabeth Chase meets her match on the crowded subway train.

Their car lurches as it starts forward and she stumbles straight into his chest, frowning up at him when he chuckles at her. He tries to offer her his handhold, but she promptly refuses it, insisting that she can stand without help if he can.

“Annabeth, I’ve been taking this my whole life and I still hold on.” He says. It doesn’t sway her determination. “Alright, if you say so.”

She’s just starting to get the hang of where to put her weight when the people surrounding them shuffle in preparation for the opening doors, knocking her off her already precarious balance and back into Percy.

The doors open and the other passengers bustle around Percy and Annabeth as she pushes off of him and takes a moment to look around. Percy gives her one more shot to keep her balance as the train pulls away, but he sees her tipping away from where he can reach her should something go wrong, so he tugs her forward before anything can happen.

“Okay, California girl. Come here.” He sighs, slipping his right hand into her back right pocket to keep her steady. Annabeth complies after a few grumbled complaints that sound like they’re aimed more at the train than him, so he takes it. She’s surprisingly pliant against him, letting him pull her to his chest to stay instead of stumble this time.

Percy feels a little strange about the hand placement, but she smiled as he did it, and she makes no requests for removal despite the fact that they’re in public.

Like, yeah, his hand is totally on her ass right now, but the touch is way too intimate to be considered alright, especially given all of the hoops that they usually have to jump through.

But New York City doesn’t have any of those hoops. If they were back at Eastview, they’d be a solid four feet apart right now. They probably wouldn’t be spending the day together at all.

He suppresses any bitterness that enters his thoughts and replaces them with gratefulness. A day that started with him breaking a rule led to his taking her to NYC. That has to mean something.

The urge to kiss her right now almost overwhelms Percy, but that’s definitely going too far. They have an entire day and an hour and a half left in the car, if Percy kisses her and it doesn’t go well… There’s no _if_ here. He can’t cross that line. (But he can think about it.)

Unintelligible voices come over the speakers as their stop approaches. “This is us.” He says as they come to a stop.

They resume their previous position with her behind him as he directs them through rush hour subway traffic. The escalator spits them straight into the harsh wind of the city streets, so Percy pulls his knit hat and gloves from the pocket of his jacket.

“You don’t have a hat?” He eyes Annabeth’s exposed ears warily. “It’s colder with the city wind. You need something to cover your ears.”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes at him. “Percy, I’ve lived in New York for three years. I know how to dress for cold.”

“City cold is different.”

“I think you’re just biased.”

Percy reaches behind her head and pulls her ponytail out of her hair without a word.

“Hey!” She makes a swipe at his hand to get it back, but he puts the blue scrunchie on his wrist and snaps it to make a point.

“Hair down. And if your ears change color at all, we’re stopping to get you a hat.”

They stop to get a hat about fifteen minutes later when Percy catches her trying to subtly hold her hands up to her ears to warm them.

“God, you’re impossible.” Percy says as they stop at a busy street. He gestures for her to step towards him and she does, eyeing him suspiciously all the while. “Relax, I’m not doing anything bad.” He says before blowing hot air on his gloves and cupping the sides of her head. She sighs in relief from the warmth and grins up at him, not showing any signs of backing away.

That scares him a little. This casual intimacy isn’t like any of their prior interactions, so if Percy had no idea what he was doing then, he _certainly_ doesn’t now. But she’s looking at him with amusement and trust glittering in those gray eyes and he’s afraid. He doesn’t know what this might mean for them.

“So, personal tour or tourist tour?” He asks her once she begrudgingly pulls her new beanie into her head.

Her nose scrunches and her lips purse in thought. “Personal.” She decides.

“You asked for it.”

They start with street food from the neighborhood where he grew up: gyros from a food cart a block or two away from his old apartment with his mom. From there they zigzag around the city, and he’s sure to take her to a more historical district to watch her oogle at the architecture.

He takes her all over town, delivering on the personal part of the tour and feeling somewhat honored that she requested it. They go to the place where he first started playing hockey, where he first met Grover, to Sweet America where his mom used to work (they spend a _while_ in there. The lady behind the counter recognizes him and gives them a discount).

Annabeth takes it all in with a careful consideration, like she’s wondering why he’s showing her all of this. Honestly, Percy doesn’t know why. It just feels right. But every time he’s worried he’s going too far and shoots her a concerned glance, she flashes a sweet smile up at him, and he knows if he spends too much time looking at her, his feet will fail him. He’d prefer not to trip on the sidewalk in front of her, thank you very much.

It’s a big day comprised mostly of little moments. They talk endlessly on the walks between destinations, their hands occasionally brushing in the empty space between them.

He isn’t sure why his feet wander here, but somehow they end up in front of his old apartment. Percy stares up at it, windows on fire from the sunset behind them, and his chest closes up a little against his will.

Annabeth nudges his shoulder with her own, looking him in the eyes before joining him in looking up at the building. “Penny for your thoughts.” Her voice is gentle, warm like the light illuminating the cold city.

“Thinkin’ bout the good old days. Just me and my mom.” He sighs. It all looks so much smaller than he remembers it. Or maybe he’s just outgrown it.

“And what came before that?”

He tenses. It’s involuntary, and he tries to relax as soon as he feels it, but she notices.

“Sorry. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to, you just sounded really nostalgic.” She rushes out, putting a gloved hand on his arm for a moment.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just not something I talk about often.” Percy shoves his hands in his jacket pockets and wills his heartbeat to slow down. Annabeth relaxes too, and she turns to face him, her eyes kind. It’s a lot easier to talk after that.

He starts slowly. “Before that was a lot of boarding school and summer programs. I, uh, I had a stepdad before Paul— guy named Gabe, a real asshole. Mom tried to keep me out of the house as much as possible. That’s actually why I started playing hockey. I got into one too many fights and had to go to public school— the one we saw earlier— and I was around too much. Saw a lot of shit, so she started sending me to an after school hockey program.” He shrugs. “Looks like it took pretty well.”

“Percy, I’m so sorry.” Annabeth’s hand finds his arm again, and this time it stays there.

He shrugs again. “It’s alright. She met Paul through that school, so it all worked out in the end. Paul is… he’s a good guy. He was always really careful, always opened all the doors and said please and thank you and shit. He even asked me for permission to marry her. He’s good for her.” Percy looks at Annabeth, at the soft, sympathetic smile on her face. “God, I’m sorry. That was a lot. We can go—“

“Percy, don’t do that. Don’t try to play it off. I’m happy to talk about it as long as you’re comfortable.” She squeezes his hand.

“Sorry, I’m just not used to talking about it. Jason is the only other person I’ve told.”

“Well, I’m honored to be the second.”

Percy winces. “Actually, third. Beckendorf was the first to find out.”

“Oh?

“I didn’t mean for him to find out though.” The words come out wrong, and he rushes to correct them. “I mean, a lot of good came from him knowing, but I didn’t _tell_ him.” That doesn’t come out right either, so he sighs and concedes to telling the story.

“So my freshman year was Eastview’s big breakout in terms of hockey. We made it to playoffs for the first time, and there were a ton of articles coming out, and some of them mentioned us by name. We were so pumped, so we did what anyone would do and Googled ourselves. I was by far the youngest, so I didn’t get as much time on the ice, but I expected to be mentioned in a few articles that had photos of the whole team.” He swallows roughly and looks away from Annabeth, choosing to stare at his old fire escape instead. Her hand slides down to pull his out of his pocket to hold. With her palm squeezing his, Percy finds the courage to continue.

“The first thing to come up for me was an article, but the second…” he sighs, “the second was the police report from the day Gabe finally got arrested. Google even took the liberty of highlighting the sentences with my name in them.” He glances nervously at Annabeth, who screwed her eyes shut as soon as the words came out of his mouth. “Beckendorf covered for me though. We were doing it on his laptop, so he… funny, I actually don’t remember what he did to distract them. I was just staring at the screen. Next thing I knew, he had them all laughing about something Hedge did at the last practice. He talked to me after though, made sure everything was alright. I’ll never forget that.”

They let his words hang in the air between them. Annabeth’s hand is still tight around his, but that isn’t enough to stop his heart from pounding in his chest. That’s a lot to dump on a person, let alone someone you’re fighting feelings for.

When she does speak, she steps closer and rests her head on his shoulder, both of them still facing the building. “Thank you for trusting me with that. I know it takes a lot.” Her head leaves his shoulder as she turns to look at him, and he meets her eyes to find a cautious curiosity in them. “He means a lot to you, doesn’t he? Beckendorf, I mean.”

Percy takes a moment to formulate an answer. The last of his reservations about talking to her died with his last confession, but he wants to word this one right. “Yeah, he does. He really took me under his wing, helped me with hockey, coaches, college, girls—” she chuckles— “all that. Honestly, I had a crush on him during that first year. It never went anywhere, of course— he and his girlfriend are perfect together and I’m _sure_ he’s straight and it faded with time— but yeah, he means a lot to me.”

“And did _that_ affect the team?” She teases, not batting an eye at the fact that he just came out to her.

“Nah, gave me something to work for, actually.” He smiles.

“And what do you work for now?”

“Honestly? Still him. I want him to be proud of me. At graduation he told me to give this year my all, and I can’t let him down. He made me captain, he believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I have to repay him for all of that. And Jason. He’s really kept me going this season. I know what you think of him, but he _is_ a good captain. I’d have broken down a long time ago without him. I know I keep saying this, but you should give him a chance. He’s not what you’ve made him out to be.”

“And what have I made him out to be?” Annabeth asks, her voice level.

“Golden boy who doesn’t deserve to be captain? You’ve calmed down with the more colorful insults since the season started, but that one is pretty consistent. Jason isn’t some golden boy, and he _does_ deserve to be captain.” Percy looks down at their intertwined hands, slightly shocked that they’re still together, and looks back at her face to find conflict there.

She withdraws her hand from his, but her reluctance to do so keeps away the sting of the movement. “Can I tell you something I haven’t told anyone?” The question comes out hesitantly, like she’s asking herself as well.

Percy turns and grabs her hand again without thinking. “You can tell me anything, but don’t do it because you think you owe me. That’s not how that should work.”

“No, that’s not why. I want to tell you.” Her voice is a lot smaller than it was a few moments ago.

“Okay.” Percy steps respectfully back into his own space.

“You know how Chiron does that summer hockey program for kids upstate? I’ve done it every year since I was seven. Right after I moved from Virginia to California, my dad looked for somewhere to send me away. And it wasn’t like your mom, Percy; he wasn’t looking out for me. Anyway, we found Chiron’s camp and ever since that first summer he’s been like a dad to me. I tell him everything. Well, not _everything_ —” she gestures between the two of them— “but everything else, I tell him. He’s the only person I’ve ever told that I want to go pro.”

“Holy shit, you want to go pro?! That’s incredible, Annabeth!” He wants to surge forward and pull her into a hug, but Annabeth doesn’t look happy at all.

“And before our team got cut…” Annabeth shakes her head like she’s trying to clear it. “He and my coach promised me the captain spot.”

“Oh.” He remembers talking with Annabeth at the first practice and hearing her say she would’ve made more sense as captain, but nobody ever said the word _promised_. For Annabeth to be _promised_ the captain spot, only to have it taken by an underclassman who would keep it until a year after she was gone… that changes some things. “And you’re worried scouts won’t look at you the same way without a title.”

“On a men’s team? In a men’s league? Of course they won’t. People see the braid sticking out of my helmet and lose interest in me until I take it off so they can judge how hot I am.”

“But scouts wouldn’t—”

“Even if the scouts don’t, everyone else does. I’ve wanted to go pro since I started hockey. That’s my plan. I love my major, but I can’t sit in a firm and listen to people changing the details on my blueprints and hard work. Hockey is it for me.” Annabeth is visibly upset now, her hands fiddling with the edge of her scarf and her face scrunching up.

“Not everyone. No one on the team thinks like that.”

“Not _anymore_. We aren’t deaf, Percy. We heard all the comments at the beginning of the season.” When he gives her an incredulous look, she doubles down. “The shock when we were good during tryouts, not treating us like actual opponents in scrimmages until I _slammed_ someone into the glass, not knowing whether or not to invite us to the first party, Leo’s constant dropping panties comments. Would you like me to continue past the _first game?_ ”

Percy sighs, knowing she’s right. Cautiously, he steps forward and puts his hands on her shoulders. She looks wary, so he’s extremely careful with his words.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t try to talk over you about stuff like that. The team was shaken up at first, but most of that was people being stupid and not knowing how to handle the change. You guys proved you were just as good right away— you shouldn’t have had to, but you did. You’re a starter on what could very well be a championship hockey team, Annabeth. People are going to notice you because of your talent well before your helmet comes off.” While he speaks, he watches Annabeth’s eyes carefully, trying to gauge her reaction. Thankfully, she softens slightly, a hint of a smile on her lips. She’s still upset, obviously, but it looks like she believes him.

“Thanks, Percy. I know I just completely derailed the conversation, but I really appreciate you saying that.”

Percy hears the silent ‘ _I’m sorry_ ’ in her words and squeezes her shoulders before releasing them. “It’s no problem. It needed to be said.”

“You asked me about Jason, and I do want to answer that, but… there’s a lot to it. It’s not just the captain spot, though that’s definitely a big part of it. He reminds me a lot of someone I used to know, a guy named Luke I met through Chiron’s program. I know they aren’t the same person, but they look—” she chuckles harshly— “damn near identical. And there are other things too, little things in the way they speak. That charisma that gets people to listen to them. You have it too, but it’s different. You don’t follow the formula.”

“Formula?”

Annabeth nods. “Damn near exact. Rich white boy comes from a damaged family and gets authority before he’s earned it. It changes people, too. Luke wasn’t always like that. One day he just… snapped.”

“Jason isn’t going to snap.” Percy insists.

“I used to say the same thing about Luke.” Annabeth shrugs, her voice less combative than it was moments ago. “He was a good person in the beginning. He was the first person other than Chiron to take me seriously, to believe in me. He was only a year older, but he always acted like an older brother to me, so it ended up feeling like he was so far ahead.” She pauses and closes her her eyes to concentrate before she continues.

“And then when he went away for college, things got really rough between us. I started going to other people for help, developing my own playing style instead of trying to copy his. To move on, you know? He got really ugly about it. He was my closest friend, but he felt more like a recruiter than anything. All he ever did was try to get me to go to his school, he even promised me a spot on the team like he had the power to. When I commited to Eastview… he didn’t take it well. He said no one would ever take me seriously, that I’d never go pro without his help. He told me I owed it all to him, that I’d be nothing without him there.” She stops, the words catching in her throat as she looks down at her boots.

Percy sees her struggling with whether or not to continue and decides not to put her through that. He understands what she’s getting at here; he’s not going to force her to stumble through telling him just so that he can know her history with Luke. Judging by her tone, there’s a lot more she’s holding back from saying, but he doesn’t need to hear it.

“Hey, hey, come here.” Percy extends his arms to her and she walks gladly into them. He holds the back of her head and wraps his other arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly against him. “That’s not true. He’s wrong, he’s _so_ wrong about you.”

“I know that.” Annabeth sighs, her voice a bit muffled by his sweatshirt. “But sometimes the voice in my head sounds an awful lot like his.”

Involuntarily, Percy’s grip on Annabeth tightens. If he weren’t holding her right now, he might be well on his way to tracking down Luke and beating the shit out of him with his own hockey stick.

But he _is_ holding her right now, and the significance of that is not lost on him. Annabeth doesn’t need his anger on her behalf, and she certainly doesn’t need him to fight her fights. He still wants to finish the conversation about Jason, but tonight isn’t the night for that. Without the right words to say to comfort her, Percy just holds on for as long as he can, stroking her hair in a way that he hopes is reassuring.

A bitterly cold wind blows down the busy street, which is now illuminated by street lights instead of the sun. Annabeth shivers against him, and he rubs up and down her back to warm her up.

“Wanna go somewhere for dinner or head back?” He asks her.

“Definitely dinner.” She says, stepping back from him. “I’m starving.”

Percy’s heart speeds up in his chest as he nods in the direction of where they need to walk and she clings to his arm. He pulls it from her grasp, smiling at the way she frowns for a moment before he puts his arm over her shoulders. For warmth. Because it’s cold. That’s all.

They eat at the diner where Percy got his first job; nobody working this shift recognizes him, which he’s somewhat grateful for with Annabeth here. If his old boss saw him with his arm around a girl _this_ stunning, she’d hear every embarrassing story the diner has to offer.

Dinner passes by quickly with the aid of stupid stories and dug-up memories of living in the city. Annabeth ends up sharing a few of her own, and he can’t help the way he smiles when he learns about her history. Not the history they’d shared in front of his old apartment building; this is far less painful, the little things that made each of them who they are.

She kicks him under the table for talking with his mouth full, her smile too wide for him to mind the pain in his shin. Percy’s revenge is interrupted by their waitress setting the check in front of him.

“Oh, ma’am, we’re not—” he turns to ask for separate checks only to find her halfway across the restaurant wiping down tables. A quick glance around the floor finds that the rest of the customers have left, and the other people on staff are closing down shop.

Percy checks his watch. “Shit. They close in five minutes.” Determined to get out of here on time, he fumbles in his pocket for his wallet. Before he can say a word, Annabeth snatches the check out of his hand, slips her card in, and hands it off to the waitress.

“I was going to get that.” Percy frowns at her.

Annabeth just rolls her eyes. “Consider that payback for not letting me help you with gas money.”

“Speaking of, we should probably get back.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, “we should.”

Percy tries with everything in him not to dissect the reluctance in her voice, instead bidding goodnight to the workers waiting for them to leave. He tosses an apology over his shoulder as he holds the door for Annabeth.

“Happy with the hat now?” He teases as she pulls it down to cover her ears in the harsh wind.

“Shut up.” She mumbles.

All Percy does is laugh and put his arm around her shoulders again, pulling her into him as they walk to the subway station.

There’s no crowd this time, no excuse to hold onto her, and yet he’s doing exactly that. As they wait for their train, Annabeth angles her body towards his ever so slightly.

It’d be so easy to swoop down and kiss her senseless right now; that’s all Percy wants to do. He wants to kiss her red nose and her pink cheeks and her soft hair and he wants to do it without the worry that would follow after. He’s almost certain she’d let him, too.

But, as always, there are simply too many factors for Percy to comfortably make a move. Too much could go wrong for him to take action with over two hours left to spend together, over half of that time passing in a car. He can’t risk that.

But Annabeth is so warm and soft, and her head is falling on his shoulder the longer they stand waiting. Percy doesn’t want the train to come. He doesn’t want this New York City bubble to burst.

For once, Annabeth isn’t pulling away. He wants to cherish that for as long as he can, frame this moment to look at the next time she has to.

The train pulls up to the platform and Annabeth sighs in relief when there are seats available. Of course, Percy had never doubted that there’d be free space at 9:30, but the ache in his feet almost has him as relieved as Annabeth. They collapse next to each other on a bench, sighing when their weight leaves their tired feet.

Before too long, Annabeth’s head falls on Percy’s shoulder. It’s impossible to determine if she’s awake from this angle, so he doesn’t dare play with her hair or risk pressing a kiss to her forehead. Even though he so desperately wants to.

Instead he freezes like a precious animal is asleep on him. Any movement can ruin this moment, regardless of whether she’s awake or asleep. Percy is _not_ going to be the reason she picks her head up. He just isn’t.

When she does pick her head up, it’s in response to the blaring voice on the overhead speakers as they pull up to their stop. Percy’s arm is still around her, and he doesn’t remove it even as they stand and make their way to the car.

They stumble down the still-busy street, watching the city pass around them. Percy takes a moment to soak it all in, him sharing this place with her the way he has today. He wants to do it again. He wants to do it again _often_.

The car comes into view far too soon, and Annabeth slips out from under his arm to go to the passenger side too quickly for his liking.

Still, he gets in the car with no complaints, tosses her the aux once more, and relaxes as her music starts up again. This song is a little too wistful for him to handle right now, but she’s swaying in his passenger seat with the city lights passing over her face and it’s all too beautiful. _She’s_ too beautiful— with her bright eyes and bouncing curls.

Just as gradually as it came, the bubble they were in within the city limits fades with each mile they puts between them and it. Her body becomes stiffer, her music selection more wistful, and if Percy reads into that he’s never going to be able to pull his car into her parking lot.

This ride is near silent, only the ambient chords of whatever song Annabeth is playing filling the space between them. That distance becomes palpable the closer they get to their little college town; it’s downright suffocating once Percy pulls off the freeway.

His heart sinks down into his stomach when they reach her apartment complex. She doesn’t wait for him before getting out of the car and walking in the direction of her apartment.

Percy calls after her, jogging to catch up. “Mind if I walk you up?” He asks, praying that she doesn’t refuse.

Her eyes flicker over his frame and back to his, their usual hunger replaced by a sad understanding. “Yeah, if you want.”

She’d been looking for his gym bag to see if he was planning on staying the night. Percy is sure of it. Still, that only makes sense of one of the emotions on her face.

They reach her room and she doesn’t invite him in. They both know that they can’t have sex tonight (or rather, they both know that they absolutely _should_ , but are terrified of what might happen if they do).

If Percy is going to kiss Annabeth, now is the time. They don’t say it, but it’s unspoken in the air between them. If either of them moves an inch closer, they won’t be able to resist the pull of gravity. Percy knows he isn’t that strong.

“Thanks for today.” Annabeth’s voice is small and very not-Annabeth. She leans against her door and looks at her feet before meeting his eyes. “I was a bitch last night and this morning. You would’ve had every right to leave me here and enjoy yourself.”

He shrugs. “I liked it better this way. The city is more fun with someone else there.” He leaves out that it was her specifically that made the city better, but he hopes it comes across in his tone. “Thanks for trusting me with everything.”

“I not sure how trusting I was about that street food, but you did alright on the rest.” She bites her teasing smile to curb it, but doesn’t move fast enough to stop it entirely. “But you’re welcome. And ditto.”

Annabeth’s eyes meet his almost expectantly, her body language straightening in anticipation. Percy takes half a step towards her, mind racing a mile a minute.

But then he thinks of their conversation today about who he’s working for. Beckendorf, who told him to stay focused and win. Jason, who is patiently pining and suffering over Piper for the sake of the team. He stops moving, his throat catching when he sees the disappointment on Annabeth’s face. This is one step he can’t take. Not yet.

That look does him in, and he rushes to pull her into his arms. He can’t kiss her, but he _can_ hold her. Friends hug. Not-friends also hug. It’s a perfect embrace for the imperfect limbo they’ve found themselves in. They hold each other there in front of her door for far too long; Percy suppresses the urge to press a kiss to where she won’t feel it on her hat, but he can’t test his self-control like that. The hug is already pushing it.

For once, Percy is the first one to pull away. He slides his hand to Annabeth’s cheek as he does, swiping his thumb along her soft skin before stepping back.

“Goodnight, Annabeth.” He breathes, voice thick with temptation and emotion.

“Goodnight, Percy.” She whispers back, her voice equally wrecked.

Percy watches as she backs into her apartment and closes the door between them. He feels simultaneously devoid of and overflowing with emotion on the elevator ride down. There’s so much he wanted to say and do, and he’s currently beating himself up for not doing any of them.

He could hit the button for her floor right now and go back to her. He’s certain that she’s still awake, maybe even waiting for him.

With a huff, Percy tears his eyes away from the elevator button. He can’t go back tonight. He doesn’t know what would happen in the morning if he does. When he goes there with Annabeth, it has to be knowing that he won’t lose her as soon as they wake up the next day, and he doesn’t know that right now. Just this morning she was upset with him for caring about her; there’s no way he can kiss her with a clear conscience tonight.

This debate carries him all the way home to his own apartment. He expects to see Jason when he stumbles in the door (after all, it is late), but he finds no trace of his best friend at all.

Percy falls onto the couch to wait for Jason to come home. That, and to wallow in his feelings for just a little longer.

* * *

The three times Jason and Piper _almost_ have sex go as follows.

The first time they almost have sex, it’s at Jason’s. One second they’re lying in bed, watching some comedy on Netflix when Piper jokes about ‘ _Netflix and chill_ ’, and it’s funny and they laugh and the next thing he knows, she’s straddling him and his shirt is clenched in her fist. This is risky as it is, considering Percy is only at the gym (or Annabeth’s, Jason is never sure anymore) and they could be interrupted at any given moment. He considers just saying _screw it_ and giving in, since her lips trail down to his neck and he _wants_ to, but he knows Percy won’t be thrilled to walk in on them in the middle of sex. So they reluctantly break apart, agreeing that it isn’t the best night, which ends up being a miracle in disguise because just minutes after Piper leaves, Percy comes home.

The second time they almost have sex, it’s at Piper’s. It’s after a game and their hair is still damp from the showers and Jason is rubbing her back when suddenly her shirt is on the ground and she’s in just her sports bra and he’s on top of her on the couch and he doesn’t even care he’s tired from the game. They’re athletes, they _have_ to have incredible stamina, and she then bites down on his bottom lip and he knows he’s a goner. All reservations about having sex on the couch goes out the window until Piper’s phone starts buzzing and it’s Reyna informing Piper she’s on the way home. Piper all but pushes Jason out of the door, kissing him goodbye before he hastily heads towards his car.

The third time they almost have sex, it’s in the backseat of Jason’s car. It’s after practice and for some reason, tensions run particularly high, so by the time they make it to Jason’s car, Piper’s lips are attached to his and they immediately crawl into the backseat. Their kiss is messy and desperate, her fingers tangling in his hair as he slips his hands under her sweatshirt. He isn’t sure how long they kissed for, but by the time he realizes they’re getting dangerously close to undressing in the backseat of his car in the parking lot of the university arena, the windows are already fogged up. He doesn’t _want_ to pull away, but having sex in the arena parking lot wouldn’t be his smartest choice, and he’s too much of a gentleman to have sex with Piper for the first time in a car. He’s classier than that, he swears.

It’s not like Jason intends for them to get so close to having sex. It just _happens_. He isn’t sure if his list is going to grow or not; granted they’re sneaking around, so getting close is just part of the secret. It’s frustrating, but it’s life. He can add to the list of the times they’ve almost had sex if it means being with Piper. The past several weeks have been everything and more than he’s ever expected.

One night after going to the movies, Jason follows Piper to her apartment, listening as she rants about the movie. He can’t help but to smile as she rattles off the reasons the movie sucked and sure, maybe the movie hadn’t been great, but tonight certainly hadn’t sucked. He’d spent it with her, after all.

He usually kisses her goodbye at the door before going home. But for some reason, they stand there, just staring at each other in the cold, and he can remember Piper telling him that Reyna’s going to be out late on a date and Percy isn’t home yet. They’re alone, it’s not too late, and no one will be looking for them.

As if challenging him, Piper unlocks the door to her apartment, her eyebrows slightly raised as she opens the door. He hasn’t kissed her goodnight yet. But the invitation is clear in her eyes as she steps inside. He isn’t even aware that he’s following her until he steps inside her apartment, watching as she flicks the lightswitch so the living room is engulfed in light.

He _could_ go home. Percy isn’t there yet, but he’ll eventually be there. He _could_ leave now. But there’s no way he can go home now with Piper staring at him with a knowing look on her face.

“It’s a little past curfew, captain,” Piper says easily, taking off her coat and hanging it on a hook beside the door. The white fabric makes her skin look so nice. He wants to lean forward and brush his hand along her cheek. He isn’t sure why he doesn’t. He should.

Percy enters his mind again. He should still be in the city, so Jason has nothing to worry about. But Jason always worries; he’s scared he’s going to slip up and Percy will find out about this.

But Jason doesn’t want to leave. Not now. Not with Piper staring at him with those eyes, giving him _that_ look.

Right when the door clicks shut, Jason forgets the concept of distance. His hands tangle in Piper’s hair and her lips taste like cinnamon; she likes cinnamon gum, this he knows. He’s tasted it on her lips enough times to know that by now. She presses her body against his, her hands sliding down his chest as they kiss. The night may be cold but she radiates so much heat, Jason feels as though he doesn’t need layers anymore.

Maybe he doesn’t need layers anymore because he really doesn’t want clothes separating them, but he isn’t sure if this is what she wants. It’s just a kiss so far. That’s it. A kiss.

Piper is _so_ close. Jason can’t concentrate on anything other than her. She is engulfing his every thought, catching him off guard. He should be used to her invading his mind, but this is different. The three times they almost had sex creeps back into his mind and he wonders if this will be just another addition to the list.

The thought of going home flickers to his mind one more time. Both Percy and Reyna will come back eventually. If Reyna comes home, she’ll walk in on her roommate and her captain making out in the middle of her living room. If Percy comes home, he’ll be suspicious if Jason isn’t.

This kiss, however, gets more heated than their other kisses. He knows it and he knows damn well she knows it, too. They’ve made their way across the living room and the back of his legs bump against the couch. He remembers the second time they almost had sex on that couch; that time, he didn’t care. But now he’s growing increasingly aware that _this_ is different, and he doesn’t want to have sex on her couch. Reyna wouldn’t be too thrilled if they did the deed on her couch.

By the time she pulls his sweatshirt over his head, carelessly dropping it on the ground next to them, he knows there’s no way they’re not going _there_ tonight.

His hands trail down, nudging her thighs gently. She pulls away, confused, and he murmurs “jump up.”

Awareness dawns in her eyes and she effortlessly jumps, wrapping her legs around his waist. His hands find their way to her ass, holding her in place. Usually the thought of his hands on her ass would make him a red-faced, stuttering mess, but he’s far too invested in the moment to think about that. Plus, her lips attach themselves to his neck and the only thought on his mind is to carry her to the bedroom before he gives up and takes her right then and there on the sofa.

By the time he carries her into her room, her lips are pressing to his collarbone, which is making him forget the fact Reyna will be home eventually. They’ve been patient, sneaking around and biding their time. He usually is patient, but now… All patience is gone. So is his self-control.

He drops her on the mattress and crawls on top of her. He reconnects their lips and he knows this is not about to be an _almost_ instance. They only pull apart so she can tug on his long sleeve, which he quickly yanks over his head and tosses aside before he leans down to kiss her again.

Almost as quickly as he climbed on top of her, she wiggles out from underneath him and suddenly his back is on the bed. Blinking in surprise, he stares in a daze as her as she straddles him, a triumphant grin on her lips. On the ice, she commands a sense of control since she’s so fast, skating faster than her opponents to maintain possession of the puck. Now she’s on top of him, commanding the same sort of control as she does while playing hockey.

Jason is her captain but for some reason, he doesn’t mind his lack of control.

Still, he decides to give her trouble. “Really?” he asks breathlessly.

She smirks. “What?” she asks innocently.

“I had some plans for you.”

“Adjust your expectations for those plans, then.”

Before he can prod her to demand what exactly he should expect, she’s pulling off her sweater and his eyes trail down. _Jesus Christ._ Any hope that he’s going to gain control dissipates as he stares at her bra— it’s lacy, black and white designs, and the bow in the middle is baby pink. He’s seen her with a sports bra on plenty of times during workouts and after games, but _this_ … This is so much better than the sports bra.

Judging by the smug smirk on her face, he just knows she’s intending to put him through hell tonight.

“Are you trying to ruin me?” Jason mutters.

Piper laughs and leans down to kiss him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I find that hard to believe.” His breath hitches as her lips trail down his jawline, peppering featherlight kisses there. “Very hard to believe.”

She just breathes out a soft “ _mhm_ ” as her lips continue down. He has to bite back a moan as she leaves open-mouthed kisses on his neck, pressing all over. His hands reach up and grip her hips, which seem to only encourage her to leave more kisses.

“If this dating thing was allowed, I’d leave marks all over,” she whispers.

And Jason thought he’d been a goner during their first kiss.

His hands trace up her sides, moving alongside her bra before tangling his fingers in her hair again. He forces himself into a sitting position, scooting himself back a little bit so his back leans against the headboard. He pulls her close and she gives in, the kiss desperate yet not rushed. He _wants_ to rush, wants to undress her and kiss her all over, but he also wants to take his sweet time with her.

He pushes down the strap of her bra and he watches as it falls off her shoulder. It’s his turn to kiss her neck now, whispering against her skin, “You’re so beautiful.”

“You’re talking,” is her sheepish reply.

He pulls away and grabs her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “Have you looked at yourself?” he demands softly. “You are the most _beautiful_ thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe you’re dating me.”

Her cheeks darken in color and her teeth catch on her bottom lip. He wants to soothe over the spot she’s biting with his own lips but he resists, instead cradling her face in his hands. He stares at her face, drinking in the moment, thinking her disheveled hair is the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

“You underestimate how handsome _you_ are,” she replies as she leans forward, pressing her lips to his. He takes this opportunity to run his tongue over her bottom lip, soothing the spot she bit, and his chest tightens when she lets out a breathy moan when he does it. The sound makes his jeans feel tighter than usual, heat forming on the back of his neck.

His fingers fumble as they reach the zipper of her jeans. It’s not a nervous action (even though he is a little nervous, he’s not going to lie) but it’s a little hard to undo her jeans like an expert when she’s moaning into his mouth.

She sighs into his mouth, “Be _patient_.” She pulls away, giving him a playful smile as she rolls off him. She pulls down her jeans in one movement and _holy shit_.

A memory from last year suddenly floods into his mind: Jason had gone to a party with the rest of the team at the beginning of his freshman year. Some sorority girls had flirted with Jason and Percy appointed himself as Jason’s wingman. He put a hand on Jason’s shoulder and said easily, “ _Listen, you might think you’re planning doing stuff with them, but if their underwear matches their bra,_ they _planned on having sex, not you._ ”

Now Jason is staring at Piper’s underwear, noticing the same black and white lace with the pink bow as her bra. And to think he’d been the one to initiate this. He isn’t sure how he feels other than he’s perfectly okay with her having planned this out.

Before he can really admire how she looks, she begins kissing down his neck and trails her lips down. He half-expects her to stop and come back up to his lips, but she continues moving down. She’s leaving a trail of kisses, moving past his neck. By the time she’s moving down his torso, he’s finding it nearly impossible not to moan, his breathing heavy as he watches her make her way down.

As her fingers expertly unbutton and unzip his jeans, he has a feeling what she’s planning on doing, which makes his heart leap to his throat. He likes the idea of her pleasing him, but what kind of boyfriend would he be if he’s the only one feeling good? This is their first time and he wants her to enjoy it just as much as he does.

Once he’s kicked away his jeans, he grabs her wrist before she can curl her fingers around the waistband of his boxers. She looks up at him, raising her eyebrows. “What?” she asks, furrowing her eyebrows.

“My turn,” he informs her, not wanting to admit how cute she looks when she raises her eyebrows at him. Before she can complain, he flips them over so she’s beneath him, trying to bite back his smile as she huffs in protest.

Jason pushes the other bra strap off Piper’s shoulder, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her collarbone. As if reading his mind, she arches her back off the mattress as his hand creeps to her back, fumbling with the clasp for just a moment before it gives way. She shrugs out of her bra, tossing it aside.

If she thinks he’s going to let up, she’s wrong. She looks like she’s going to flip them over again until he wraps his lips around her nipple. Her breath hitches and the way she whispers his name gives him a new sense of confidence in his actions. He takes his sweet time, swirling his tongue at a tantalizing pace, not wanting to admit how her breathy moans are affecting him.

Since he’s just as impatient as her, though he’ll never admit to that, he begins to kiss down her torso. She squirms against the bed and he smirks against her skin, knowing for the moment, she’s under his control.

Since this isn’t allowed, Jason can’t leave noticeable marks on her like he wants to. So he has to settle for hidden hickeys. He yanks down her panties with one swift movement, not bothering to watch where they land after they’re flung aside. He locks eyes with Piper, who is watching him with a raised eyebrow, almost as if she’s challenging him to do his worst to her. The glint in her eyes reminds him how she looks during a game; she’s waiting for the inevitable attack.

He spreads her legs, leaning in and pressing kisses to the soft skin of her inner thighs. At once, Piper’s fingers lace through his hair and tighten, which feels better than he wants to acknowledge. Once she seems unaffected by the kisses, he begins to suck on the skin, which makes her moan louder than before.

After leaving a few hickeys on her thighs, his own impatience makes him give into what she obviously wants. He holds her thighs down, knowing she’s not going to stay still as he leans in and attaches his lips to her clit.

Jason’s favorite sound to come out of Piper’s mouth is her laugh. But now as he goes down on her, he’s convinced her moans are a close second.

Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t spend a lot of time between her legs. Before he can really pleasure her, she yanks on his hair, hard enough for him to raise his head and look at her. He locks eyes with her, unable to keep from smirking as he takes in the sight of her heaving chest, flushed cheeks, and wide eyes.

“You may be in charge on the ice, but you’re not in charge here, _captain_ ,” Piper informs Jason breathily.

 _Jesus Christ._ He isn’t sure he’ll be able to be called captain again without thinking about this moment and turning red.

While he stares at her, mouth slightly open as he tries to slow down his erratic heartbeat over that sentence, she takes advantage of his sudden daze. He blinks and instead of looking down at her, he’s looking up at her as she climbs on top of him again.

 _Just give up, she’s calling all the shots,_ captain.

Her fingers curl around the waistband of his boxers and she tugs them down. He lifts his hips up to make the process easier, allowing her to slide them down as much as she can before he kicks them away. He isn’t even sure if they tangle in her sheets or fall off the bed because her lips are suddenly against his and this kiss is different. He can sense the lingering, suppressed nerves in her movements. Even as her hands slide down his chest, he knows she isn’t as confident as she had been just moments ago.

“Hey.” Pulling away from the kiss, Jason cradles Piper’s face in his hands and her brown eyes meet his, warmth spreading through his entire body as he studies her face. His thumb traces along her puffy lips, smiling fondly at her. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Uh.” She blinks, seemingly not expecting that question. “I’m thinking that I’m horny.”

“Other than that.”

“I’m thinking that I’m trying to please you.” Her teeth catch her bottom lip, her eyes flickering away from his own for a moment.

He leans forward and presses a soft kiss to her neck. “I’m thinking that you’re succeeding.”

That’s enough for her. She pushes his hands away, ducking her head to kiss him. He closes his eyes, focusing solely on the kiss, hardly aware of the sound of a drawer opening next to him. When she pulls away, he can see her digging around in the top drawer of her bedside table. He glances at her hand as it comes back up, a silver condom wrapper catching his eye.

“You had a condom ready?”

She smiles and shrugs. “Yeah.”

“Since when?”

“Stashed some in the apartment and my car since we came back from winter break.”

He raises his eyebrows at her. “Oh, so you _have_ been preparing for this?”

She scoffs. “Shut up. You’re hot. Who _wouldn’t_ prepare for this?”

He opens his mouth to reply but realizes he doesn’t have a response. She smiles triumphantly and he concedes with a quiet, “Okay, fine, I’m glad you prepared. I don’t have any condoms on me.”

“That’s what I thought.” She tears the condom wrapper open with her teeth, putting the wrapper on the table before rolling the condom on him. He inhales sharply at the feeling of her fingers and she bites back what looks like a smile.

Jason would be a liar if he said he hadn’t thought about sex with Piper before. It’s kind of hard not to, especially after their three close calls. He has a pretty vivid imagination, but as she sinks down on top of him, moans slipping out of both of their mouths, he realizes even the most detailed thoughts pale in comparison to this moment. His fingers squeeze her hips so tightly he wonders for just a moment if it hurts her, but when she just moans his name in response to his prodding fingers against her hip bones, the thought of pain is pushed out of his mind. The only thing he can focus on is how _good_ this feels. It surpasses all expectations he’d had before this moment.

Soon enough, his lips capture hers in a heated yet messy kiss, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she moves her hips up and down on top of him. Neither of them are shy about being vocal and the sound of her moans are music to his ears.

Although he hates to admit it, but he’s at her complete and utter mercy. For some reason, it’s almost funny because nobody would be able to tell she’s radiating control in bed because when people see her on the ice, they underestimate her. She’s small and hockey is oftentimes a sport for big guys. Opponents see her on skates and Jason can see the doubt on their faces. How can someone so small make such a big impact? Yet she darts in and out of her opponents faster than a heartbeat, wrecking havoc to all who dare come near.

Right now, Jason almost feels like an opponent. He’d expected Piper to fall to pieces under his touches. But now, watching as she moves on top of him, he knows he’s wrapped around her finger. He’s wound so tight he knows once he reaches his inevitable orgasm, he’ll be just as wrecked as the opposing team during games.

He also feels like such a sap for this, but she’s just about the prettiest thing he’s ever laid his eyes on. Her eyebrows are knit in concentration as she moves above him, her swollen lips pinker than usual, how she arches her back… _god_. He could stare at her forever. He wants to.

As much as Jason enjoys Piper’s control over him, he doesn’t want her to do all the work. He can feel the pleasure building up and judging by the look on her face, he knows she won’t be able to last much longer either.

He takes it upon himself to hold her hips in place, watching as her eyebrows rise in shock and confusion. Before she can vocalize her complaints, he flips them over, enjoying how her eyes widen as he thrusts into her. The sound she makes when he buries himself inside of her is so heavenly that he wonders why the hell they hadn’t had sex before, especially since there’d been three opportunities to do so before this.

His hand grips her thigh and although her eyes are fluttering with pleasure, he still thinks it isn’t enough. His mind hazily flashes to the time she told him about her close brush with figure skating— her father hadn’t been too fond of the idea of her playing hockey, so he’d attempted to get her into figure skating. Obviously it hadn’t worked since she’s played hockey since she was eight, but still… Figure skaters are flexible. He decides to see if it holds true for hockey players.

When Piper obliges and Jason easily throws her leg over his shoulder, he nearly cums right there.

He somehow manages to last longer than her, although he does push her over the edge by reaching down and rubbing circles against her clit with his thumb. Once he begins to touch her, she doesn’t last long.

The sight of her eyes squeezing shut and tossing her head back is one he knows he will cherish forever. Her dark hair splays against the pillows and he can feel the sheets bunch under their connected bodies as she wraps her fingers around the fabric. Her lips form a circle and the sound of her moaning out his name is what does it for him.

His own orgasm hits him like thunder, anticipated yet still shakes one to their bones when it finally hits. Pleasure rolls through him like a building thunderclap, his climax signaling the end of the storm. When his hips finally still, it certainly feels like he’s been exposed to lightning, energy that feels like electricity is buzzing between their connected bodies.

If Jason thought Piper was beautiful during her orgasm, he isn’t sure there’s a word to articulate how beautiful she looks after sex. Her skin shines and her lips are so puffy that it makes him wonder if his own lips are swollen. Her dark hair falls in a disheveled mess against the pillow under her head and her brown skin looks so nice against the white sheets.

He carefully lowers her leg from its spot over his shoulder, detangling himself from her as he finally gets his breathing back to its normal rhythm. He takes off the condom, tying the top of it before lifting himself from her bed to throw it away. He’s quick to return, lowering himself on the mattress and into her waiting arms.

How can Percy _not_ hold Annabeth after sex? How can he pretend everything’s okay and not bury himself in her arms? He likes her, it’s clear as day, yet a friends with benefits agreement probably doesn’t entail post-sex cuddles.

Jason isn’t sure how Percy does it as he stares down at Piper. The sheets cling to her body as she rests her head on his chest, her fingertips tracing lazily against his bicep. All he wants to do is lay here forever. Her skin feels like silk underneath his fingers as he drags them up and down her back, which must please her since she’s practically purring.

She is the most beautiful girl on the planet and she’s _his_ girlfriend. His heart flutters at that, feeling a smile tug on his lips.

“What’re you smiling at?” she murmurs, gazing up at him, her cheek pressed against his chest.

“You.” He presses a kiss to her forehead. When her eyes close, he presses a featherlight kiss to her closed eyelid. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” is her whispered reply, scrunching up her nose as she smiles up at him. When he scoffs playfully, she laughs and shakes her head. “Kidding, kidding. You know I’m joking.”

Jason chuckles, “I’ll try to pretend my pride isn’t too wounded.” Piper rolls her eyes and he has to resist the urge to lean down and kiss her senseless again. If he initiates a kiss, he isn’t sure he’ll be able to stop himself from giving in. Another round sounds better than he wants to admit, but he knows that’s something they can’t do tonight. Instead, he asks softly, “How was that?”

“Worth the wait.” She sees his eyebrows raise, urging her to elaborate, and her cheeks darken in color. The sight makes him feel warm all over. “If you’re asking about _your_ performance, I’d say you lived up to my expectations. Even surpassed them.”

“Surpassed them?” He can’t help but to smirk. “So you had expectations.”

“Are you kidding? Don’t even try to be modest. I’ve been thinking about jumping you for months now, just took some time to get there,” she informs him and he can’t help but to laugh. When he goes quiet, she presses a soft kiss to his collarbone. The placement should be suggestive, but the gesture is so soft that he knows there’s no ulterior motive to it. “But like I was trying to say before, I enjoyed myself thoroughly.”

“As did I.”

“Mhm. Good. You better.”

He kisses her temple this time, his lips lingering longer than they should. He soaks in the moment, knowing soon enough it’ll have to end. They both know Reyna will eventually come home and he can’t stay. Although sneaking around is worth being together, Jason really hates he can’t stay the night. He wants to stay wrapped up in Piper’s arms until he falls asleep.

As if she’s reading his mind, she whispers, “Stay the night. Reyna doesn’t have to know. You can leave before she wakes up.”

He smiles sadly down at her. “You know I can’t risk that. Percy will wonder where I am.”

She sighs heavily. “Yeah, I know, and it _sucks_.” She pouts.

“I’m sorry.” He leans in and kisses the pout. “Another night, I promise. Trust me, I want to stay.”

“You better leave now, then, or I won’t ever let you get up,” she warns. “I’m serious. I could fall asleep right here.”

“Alright, alright, I’m going, I’m going.” He chuckles and waits until she sits up to climb out of bed. He stands, grabbing his boxers from where they hang over her footboard.

As Jason pulls on his boxers, he watches as Piper steps into her panties, pulling them on. For a second, he thinks she’s going to walk around like that, which makes him tempted to pull her back into bed for another round, but then she reaches down and grabs his discarded long sleeve from the ground. It’s his hockey shirt, the one everyone on the team owns, yet there’s something about how it hangs off her that makes it so much better than seeing her in his compared to her own. The shirt brushes against her mid-thigh, the sleeves cover her hands, plus _his_ number and name are on her back… He really wishes he didn’t have to go.

“Hey, hurry up,” she chides, grinning over at him as he stares, standing in just his boxers. “Stop staring before Reyna comes home and kicks your ass.”

Jason nods, yanking his jeans on next. He zips them up and he sees how close she is, so he reaches forward and tugs on the shirt. She stumbles against his chest and he kisses her, unable to resist when she’s looking so cute in his shirt. Her fingers tangle in his hair and he can feel heat pooling in his stomach.

Before coming to Eastview, Jason hadn’t had a real home. He’d lived with his sister since their parents weren’t the greatest role models ever, but even then, he felt out of place. But as he kisses Piper, he realizes home didn’t have to be a physical place; it can be a person.

And Piper definitely makes him feel like he was home.

“Get your sweatshirt and shoes on,” she commands breathlessly as soon as she pushes herself away from his lips. “You have to go home.”

“I wish I didn’t have to go, I’d _really_ like to take you in my shirt,” he replies sheepishly as he pulls on his shoes, unable to stop from laughing as she swats him.

“Next time,” she promises as her cheeks turn pink. “Where’s your sweatshirt?”

“I think I left it in the living room.” He stands once his shoes are on, grabbing her hips and pulling her in for another kiss. “Next time, I’m staying the night.”

“I’d like that.” She smiles before pushing against his chest. “Go.”

And Jason intends on leaving, he really does. He just needs to go into the living room and grab his sweatshirt.

But once he steps out of Piper’s bedroom, he looks up only to meet a pair of brown eyes and he can feel his heart drop to his feet.

Reyna is standing in the living room, a takeout box in her hand. She’s wearing makeup and a red blouse underneath a nice coat, which Jason assumes is typical date attire. Her car keys are hanging from her fingers, tucked under the takeout box. She looks calm, almost stoic, as if nothing is wrong in the world. Except she’s staring at Jason and his sweatshirt is in her other hand.

_Fuck._

“I think you dropped this,” Reyna deadpans, lifting up his sweatshirt.

Jason’s entire face feels as if it’s on fire. “I, uh…” His voice is strained and he clears his throat. He’s waiting for the yelling. He’s waiting for Reyna to tell him she’s going to tell Percy or Chiron or worse, _Hedge_ , but she just stares at him expectantly.

As he tries to find his voice, Piper brushes past him. For a moment, she falters, knowing they’ve been caught, but she continues to the kitchen. As if this situation is the most normal thing in the world, she opens the fridge and begins sifting through it.

Reyna’s eyes flash to the back of the hockey shirt and Jason knows she can see _GRACE 1_ in large letters even through Piper’s hair. If she’s surprised, she doesn’t show it.

_Hey, universe or God or whatever? Can you kill me now?_

“I brought back dessert,” Reyna says.

Piper perks up at that. “Really?”

“Yep. Cake.”

“You’re the best.” Piper bounds out of the kitchen, her hand brushing against Jason’s bare back comfortingly before she goes to Reyna. She takes the takeout box and Jason’s sweatshirt without batting an eye. “How was your date?” she asks casually as she tosses Jason his sweatshirt, who fumbles with it.

“Eh. She was nice, I just don’t think it’s going to work,” Reyna admits.

“Was it as bad as our first date?”

Jason, who is trying his hardest to process what’s unfolding in front of him, blinks at that. “You guys dated?” he manages out.

“We went on one date before the season started last year. It was alright, but we connected better as friends.” Piper shrugs.

“I…” Jason shrugs his way into his sweatshirt and hopes his face isn’t as red as it feels. “That’s… nice.”

“Yeah. I’m just so exhausted, I can’t wait to sleep.” Reyna hangs her car keys up on a hook on the wall by the door. “And since I’m a light sleeper, I’m afraid Jason can’t spend the night. I don’t want to stay up all night listening to you guys having sex.”

If Jason wasn’t blushing before, he’s certainly blushing now.

“Jason has to go home,” Piper informs Reyna. “Because, uh…” It’s her turn to look embarrassed now. “Percy doesn’t exactly know about this.”

“I figured that much.” Reyna nods once and sighs. “I assume I’m the first one to know?”

“You are,” Jason confirms, scratching the back of his head. “We’d, uh, appreciate it if you—”

“I don’t agree with the rule, so don’t worry about me telling anyone,” Reyna interrupts him. “I also had a feeling, I just wasn’t sure until now.”

“I owe you,” is all Jason can say.

Reyna waves his comment off. “Just don’t have sex when I’m home and you owe me nothing. I seriously don’t care.” She moves into the kitchen, grabbing two forks as Piper opens the takeout box and slides it on the counter to her waiting hand.

Jason takes this as his cue to leave. Piper is already making her way to his side, resting her hand against his back as he walks towards the front door.

“Don’t look so worried,” she whispers to him as he reaches for the doorknob. “She’s not going to tell anyone. Our secret is still safe.”

“I know, I know.” He grabs her chin lightly and waits until she pushes herself on her tiptoes to kiss her. “I’ll text you when I get home.”

“I expected that much.” She smiles and the sight soothes over his remaining worries; Reyna isn’t going to tell. “Drive safe.”

“Of course.” Before Jason can leave, he looks at Reyna. “Uh, goodnight, Reyna.”

Reyna twirls the fork in her hand slowly and gives him a shit-eating grin. “See you tomorrow at practice, captain,” she says cheerfully.

It takes all of Jason’s control not to run out of Piper’s after that.

On his drive home, he feels restless, almost lonely. His mind flashes again to Percy and he pities his friend for a moment. Getting out of Piper’s bed to go home alone is the _worst_ feeling. All he wants to do is turn his car around and climb back into bed and kiss her until he falls asleep. How does Percy manage to tear himself away from Annabeth so easily?

If what Percy feels for Annabeth is just a fraction of what Jason feels for Piper, Jason has to give his friend some credit for being able to follow all those rules they’d implemented to ‘stay casual’. (Although Jason knows those rules aren’t working, at least they aren’t for Percy.) Closeness after sex is craved almost—if not just as much—as much as sex itself, in Jason’s humble opinion. Sure, sex alone is great (he would know, granted he’d just had it) but the intimacy of just lying next to someone, feeling their skin, hearing their voice, seeing them at their most vulnerable… There’s something about lying together and cuddling that sex can’t do justice, especially if it’s with the right person. And Jason has the right person.

The further away Jason gets from Piper, the more he considers just not caring about anything and driving back to her, but ultimately the stress of what Percy would think is too much to bear, so he forces himself to drive the rest of the way home.

Jason must have been gone longer than he thought because when he unlocks the door and slips inside, Percy is there, sitting on the couch. Percy looks up from the TV and grins.

“Hey,” he greets.

Jason hopes he doesn’t look strange or isn’t still blushing from his encounter with Reyna. “Oh, hey. Didn’t expect you to be home so early.”

“Early? It’s midnight.” Percy laughs and shakes his head like Jason had just cracked a joke, although it hadn’t been a joke because Jason wasn’t aware of the time. “Didn’t expect you to be home so late. Who were you with? Piper?” The question is accompanied by a wink and the playful edge in Percy’s voice is the only thing keeping Jason from cracking under the fear of being discovered.

“Ha. Very funny. No, I was with Leo.” Each time Jason lies, he finds it easier than the previous one. “How was your day? You went into the city, right?”

“Right. Uh, yeah, it was good.” Percy doesn’t elaborate on it and for a moment, Jason can feel panic creep up on him. Maybe Percy knows. But judging by the way Percy looks like he’s suppressing a smile, Jason realizes there’s no way Percy knows; he simply doesn’t want to talk about his day, which makes Jason assume it has something to do with Annabeth.

“I’m heading to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Jason scratches the back of his head and hopes his lips aren’t as puffy as Piper’s were. If they are, it’s a dead giveaway Jason wasn’t with Leo.

“Huh?” Percy blinks and nods. If he notices Jason’s puffier than usual lips, he doesn’t say anything, which makes Jason assume he’s clueless to the entire situation. “Oh, right. Sleep well.”

By the time Jason crawls into bed and his head hits the pillow, he’s surprised he isn’t anxious about anyone finding out. The only thing invading his thoughts is the overwhelming desire to be back in Piper’s arms.

If Jason dodged _this_ bullet, he’s nearly positive he can keep his relationship with Piper hidden from the rest of the team. There’s nothing standing in his way of keeping a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Oh and oh my god, I've changed myself  
>  To what we might do  
> If we start keeping a secret **
> 
> So! This chapter is an emotional roller coaster! Things are heating up! I wasn't the one writing sex this time! I don't have much to say other than thank you for your continuous comments, asks, and general love for this fic. Stay tuned, the love and happiness phase can only last so long with this many chapters to go :)  
> The songs for this chapter are There's No Way // LAUV (feat. Julia Michaels) and Dancing With Our Hands Tied // Taylor Swift for Percy, as well as Keeping A Secret // Bleachers and ILYSB // LANY for Jason. 


	6. I Once Was a Man With Dignity and Grace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste  
>  I once was a man with dignity and grace  
> I'm slipping through the cracks of your cold embrace **

The last game before playoffs is the hardest one yet. Jason just didn’t anticipate for all hell to break loose.

The season so far has been, for a lack of better words, incredible. The team is having their best season yet, winning game after game no matter how talented their opponents are. Eastview now sits comfortably at the top of the league, guaranteed the first seed in playoffs. Most games are an easy win. After months of playing together, they’ve learned how to cooperate. At this rate, there’s no doubt they’ll make it to the Frozen Four.

Now, however, Jason can see how deflated the team is. This game has been brutal; the other team is not playing nice. Connor’s already sustained a bloody nose and Ethan hyperextended his knee. The referees haven’t been calling a lot of penalties, which is frustrating enough without the fact this game is tied at one point each.

Plus, as goalie, Jason feels as though he doesn’t have a lot of control when the puck is on the other side of the rink as him. All he can do is just stand there and watch as his team gets pushed around. He’s never enjoyed that aspect of being a goalie, yet this game is even worse to endure because of Piper.

Naturally, one of the biggest players on the other team has decided to antagonize Piper the entire game so far. He’s an ass, holding out his stick in an attempt to trip her and pushing her with a little more force than necessary. Piper is holding her own so far, though Jason can see the way her jaw clenches each time she’s pushed around.

But Jason can’t do anything even if he wanted to. He’s not the type of player to fight back even when he’s the one being targeted. If he were to suddenly stand up for Piper, someone would notice. And if anyone were to notice, it’d be Percy, which is just about the last thing he wants.

As the buzzer wails to signal the end of the second period, Jason can see how tired the team is already. With a lack of calls from the refs and aggressive opponents, they’re more beaten up than usual. They’d come into the game on a high note, overjoyed they were first in the league. At this point of the season with playoffs just weeks away, they felt confident. Now that confidence has faded into frustration.

The frustration is reflected on Percy’s face when he hastily shoves on his skate guards as he gets off the ice after Jason. “These fucking refs aren’t doing their job,” he mutters, reaching up and wiping his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. “We’re getting _thrashed_ out there and they’re doing nothing.”

“Tell me about it.” Jason tries to push back his own frustration, knowing their combined anger over how the game is playing out will only affect the team as a whole. One of them needs to be calm, so in order to soothe over the tension, he looks down at his hockey stick. The good memory over receiving it helps and he can feel some of the tension in his shoulders ease up. “We can’t dwell on the past two periods, we have to focus on the last one.”

“You’re right.” Percy sighs and walks alongside Jason to the locker room. “What would I do without you?”

Jason rolls his eyes playfully. “Tell me that when we win, alright?”

When they push open the door to the locker room, the waves of frustration are the first thing to hit Jason in the face. Nobody is saying anything, but it’s obvious in their body language— stiff shoulders, clenched fists, furrowed eyebrows. Jason hopes his own suppressed frustrations aren’t reflected on his own body as he sits down on one of the benches, taking a swig of his water as he turns to the coaches.

Only people who didn’t know Chiron would think he isn’t frustrated, but he’s been Jason’s coach long enough for Jason to see right through his collected demeanor. He sighs and his shoulders fall with the exhale. “I understand your frustration. I also understand how draining it is when the referees don’t call penalties when I see the other team pushing you around. But you have to rise above your frustrations and channel them into your performance. If you do that, there’s no reason why we _shouldn’t_ win.”

To add on, Hedge rests his baseball bat on his shoulder and says gruffly, “You guys have gotten too comfortable with your winning streak. You think being first in the league means you’re unbeatable. That’s untrue, but the other team isn’t a team that should win. We are the better team. You have to push past this mentality and win.”

Chiron nods. “We can’t do anything about the referees, but you can do something about your emotions. Don’t let them cloud your thoughts. Don’t let them get the best of you. The most mistakes occur when you rely on your emotions instead of your logic.” He turns his attention to Annabeth. “You’ve been trying to score whenever you get close to the net. Wait until you find an opening. Keep possession of the puck until you know you can score.”

Though Annabeth doesn’t look too thrilled to be told not to try and score, she nods. She respects Chiron far too much to not listen to his advice.

“Percy?” Percy looks up at Chiron with tired eyes. “You’ve been faring well, but be ready to block for the wings so they can try and score.”

Jason half-listens as Chiron talks to the defensemen. He isn’t too concerned; he’s been doing his job the best he can. He doesn’t pay attention until he hears Hedge ask, “McLean?”

“Yeah, Hedge?” Piper asks wearily. Jason glances over and he can see the crease between her eyebrows. Some loose strands of her hair stick to her forehead and she looks more tired than usual. He can see how her shoulders hang heavy, one of her hands gingerly resting on the padding of her opposite shoulder like it hurts. Every part of Jason wants to walk over and comfort her, but he can’t. The inability to comfort his girlfriend in front of his team drives him insane.

“Do you need to be benched? You’re getting pushed around out there and maybe you should take a breather.” Hedge’s voice is soft, which is strange to hear considering he’s always yelling. He only talks this way around Piper.

Piper doesn’t like the sudden attention on her. Jason can see her features harden, the sudden stiffness in her shoulders. “No,” she answers instantly. “I’m fine. I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

Hedge doesn’t look convinced and Jason has to bite on his tongue in order not to jump in to defend her.

The coaches appear not to have any more advice to say, so they hand it off to Jason and Percy to finish the pep talk before leaving the locker room. Percy hauls himself to his feet and Jason takes his rightful place next to his co-captain.

“The coaches are right. We’re playing with our emotions as our motivation when we should concentrate on winning. If we continue to let our frustrations control us, we won’t win,” Percy says with crossed arms. “We need to be confident with our actions because we _are_ better than this team. Not only that, but we play fair.”

“But they keep pushing us,” Travis complains, gesturing to Connor, who has blood on the front of his jersey from his bloody nose. “More of us are going to get hurt if the refs continue to do nothing.”

“We can’t concentrate on the things out of our hands,” Jason responds. “Trust me, it sucks not being able to do anything about these penalties, especially since they _should_ be called. But we can’t force the refs to make calls. We’ll just continue to let our frustration drive us.”

Percy nods in agreement. “We’re the better team. And maybe Hedge is right, maybe we have gotten comfortable with our winning streak. But that’s no excuse for how we play. We need to turn this game around and win like we deserve.” He holds his hand up and the team rises to their feet to put their hands in the middle.

When the team chants, the sound is hopeful, making Jason think maybe they can push past the frustration to win.

As the team begins to file out of the locker room, Jason can’t help him any longer; he places a hand on Piper’s shoulder. Nobody gives them a second look thankfully, so he can play this off as being a concerned captain.

“Are you okay?” he whispers, trying not to show how worried he is about her. “That asshole won’t let up.”

She gives him a sour look, brushing off his hand. “I am _fine_ , captain,” she says shortly. “He’s just a big bully. I can hold my own weight. Don’t worry about me.”

Despite her reply, Jason worries. He worries a lot.

But he can’t focus on his worry now. Like his frustration, he pushes it to the back of his mind. He can’t let emotion shroud his thought process. He can’t forget what he’s here to do, which is win. As playoffs grow closer, he knows scouts will be in the bleachers, watching to see what he can do. The extra pressure is the last thing he needs, but he clings onto it, knowing he’ll play with a cool head if he focuses on potential NHL scouts.

Yet every time he glances over at Piper, who is rotating her shoulders like they’re sore, he wants to give into the worry.

“Hey, thanks for calming me down before we talked to the team.” Percy’s voice comes from nowhere, snapping Jason from his reverie. “I would’ve been too emotional if you hadn't cooled me down. I was pretty pissed.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Jason squeezes his eyes shut; it’s approaching the third quarter, so watching the puck all night has been tedious and his eyes hurt. He squeezes his water bottle and allows his eyes to follow the droplets that fly, granting him some relief. “We’re co-captains. We have to work together.”

Percy pats Jason’s padded back with a grin as he removes his skate guards. “Still. Thanks. It means a lot.” He shoves his helmet on his head before getting back on the ice.

Jason grants one last look at Piper, who is talking to Reyna, before slapping on his own helmet and following Percy out onto the ice.

As the game restarts, Jason feels for the first time as though everything will work out in their favor. The opposing team still plays dirty, that certainly doesn’t dial back, but Eastview responds with logic rather than their emotions. They play less defense than they do offense, and although their goalie blocks most of Annabeth’s attempted shots, Jason can see how close the puck comes to slipping into the net.

 _This_ is the team Jason recognizes— the relentless, communicative, cooperative team that rightfully sits in first place in their league. This is the team he and Percy have led for the past several months. Although Beckendorf hasn’t come to any of their games, Jason likes to think this is the team their old captain would be proud of. As great as a captain Beckendorf had been, there’s no doubt that this season is better than their last. Jason knows this is a championship team.

There’s no reason for Chiron to worry about the team’s willingness to work together; the rule almost seems silly now. No romantic relationship has interfered with the team’s abilities before.

Everything goes smoothly until it doesn’t.

The puck moves closer to the goal, which puts Jason on edge. He watches as one of the other team’s wings edges closer, foolishly underestimating Reyna on defense. He tries to move around Reyna and is evidently surprised when she effortlessly takes the puck from him. She maneuvers around him before he even notices the puck is no longer in his possession.

From further up the ice, Jason can see Piper falling back to help Reyna. She is the fastest by far, leaving her opponents in the dust. The way she skates certainly makes it look like she has a figure skating background, though Jason knows better. She breaks away from the other team and approaches Reyna, slapping her stick on the ice to signal she’s open.

Out of nowhere, the asshole who has been targeting Piper comes up from behind. He somehow matches her stride, skating alongside her for a moment before closing in on her. He slams his shoulder into her arm, nearly knocking her off balance. Even though the visor is partially covering her face, Jason can see her mouth open in surprise. She’s trying to get to Reyna to get the puck, but as the bigger player continues to push her, it’s evident when her focus shifts from the puck to protecting herself. Her shoulder rotates again, this time in a vain attempt to push her opponent off, but her reciprocation seems to encourage him. He turns his body slightly and he finishes the job with one final shove.

The sound of Piper hitting the plexiglass echoes around the arena. Before she can brace herself, her helmet slams against the glass. The force is so great that she bounces off, her right arm moving in front of her chest to absorb the impact of her fall. She collapses onto the ice, the sound of her stick clattering against the ground almost as loud as the sound of her body hitting the wall.

The referee closest to her looks down at her, but she’s already trying to pick herself off the ground. When he sees her hands press against the ice to haul herself onto her knees, his attention turns back to where the puck is.

Reyna, who had handed the puck off to Frank, yells something incoherent past her mouth guard. She gestures wildly to Piper and the message is clear: _Where’s the call?_

Jason should be watching the puck, this he knows. As a goalie, his job is to know where the puck is at all times. But his earlier advice is forgotten as soon as Piper hits the glass; pure fury consumes him. His vision is tinted with red and his chest heaves as he tries to keep his breathing steady.

Misguided emotion is what affected the team during the first two periods. Misguided emotion is what affects the team now.

One second Jason is situated in front of the goal, prepared to stop any attempts of scoring, and then he blinks and suddenly his body is against a player of the opposite team. It’s the guy who had shoved Piper, he realizes hazily, but he isn’t in control of his own actions. He can hear the sound of the other player hitting his back against the glass, though it doesn’t exactly add up; how did Jason get over here? Why is his left hand against the man’s chest padding while his stick presses to the opponent’s shoulder pad?

The other player is trying to fight back. His hand lifts up and presses against Jason’s helmet, hitting the part protecting his chin. When Jason doesn’t let up, the player shoves against the cage covering Jason’s face. This time, it pushes against Jason’s face and he can feel pain flare up against his lip, though it hardly registers. All he can feel is anger. The blood and adrenaline run through his veins like liquid fire.

Even the whistles from the referees don’t sink in. Jason won’t let up. This douche deserves so many penalties, plus he seems almost _smug_ that he hurt another player. Not just any other player, but _Piper_. Jason isn’t sexist and he certainly doesn’t believe girls are weaker than boys when it comes to hockey, but this guy is easily two inches taller than Jason himself and it’s a simple fact that Piper is small. What kind of person purposely attempts to hurt someone?

The only thing that breaks Jason from his fit of rage is when he hears Percy yelling, “Jason, stop!” Percy’s hands grab Jason’s padded shoulders and he tries to pull Jason away.

Jason is snapped from his anger, immediately releasing the other player. He moves away, surprised to see his hands are shaking. He looks over at Percy, who is staring back with a shocked look on his face, his mouth open, his mouth guard hanging by its strap from his helmet. Though as the seconds pass, his green eyes burn with anger.

_So much for not letting emotions affect the game._

It’s no surprise when the referee deems Jason’s penalty as a major one, which means he has to spend five minutes in the penalty box. But as he glances up at the clock as he skates to the penalty box, he can see there are only four minutes left in the game. So much for redeeming himself. He enters the penalty box and rips off his helmet, trying to come to terms with what he did.

Since it’s a major penalty, rules clearly state the team with the offender must play one player down. Jason looks out at the ice and he sees Piper coming off the ice. As she exits, Jake Mason enters the rink, decked out in goalie padding. Jason clenches his jaw; Jake is good, no doubt, but he’s no Jason.

Hedge, evidently furious, looks at Jason from outside the goalie box and barks out, “You’re bleeding, Grace.”

Jason takes off his gloves before touching his lip. The adrenaline is wearing off, so the pain on his bottom lip is increasing. When he pulls his hand away, he sees blood on his fingers. He curses and allows one of the medics to enter the box and check him out. It takes a few moments to deem that he’s okay, his lip will be just be swollen, and by the time the medic pulls away, the arena erupts in screams.

The other team scored. Not only are they in the lead now, but the person who scored the goal is the person who Jason shoved against the glass.

Of _course_ the team scores when Jason gets ejected. Of course. Jake isn’t bad, but there’s an added pressure to perform well when the starting goalie gets a major penalty. Not to mention this is the last game of regular season. Jake’s body language says it all— he’s pissed.

From inside the penalty box, Jason can see how Percy lifts his hand up to rest on his helmet in frustration. Annabeth’s head whips around and her gray eyes pierce into Jason’s, her lips pulled back like she’s going to bite his head off. If she hated him before, she must wish him death now. Before he can melt under her murderous glare, she turns away and prepares for the faceoff.

The only person who could possibly comfort Jason right now is Piper. He looks to the team bench to see her staring straight ahead, eyebrows pulled together in anger. Her helmet sits in her lap, gloves carelessly shoved inside. She looks the angriest Jason’s ever seen and he doesn’t blame her; she’d been adamant about being able to handle the asshole. Yet the second things got scary, Jason interfered.

Their relationship is also supposed to be a secret. The way Jason had acted is not how a teammate would react. The fight has _boyfriend_ written all over it. He can feel the fear seep in, replacing the frustration. Even if the team couldn’t piece it together, he knows Percy will be able to. Jason isn’t the type of player to pick up fights. He doesn’t even defend himself when people push him around; this should come across as suspicious to anyone who knows him well enough.

He pushes aside all his anxieties and stares intently at Piper. She has to feel his eyes on her, but she doesn’t glance over. Her body stiffens and she leans forward slightly, tunnel-visioned on the rink. But even as the puck moves across the ice, her eyes stay straight ahead, which is a dead giveaway she isn’t really watching. She’s just trying to avoid his gaze.

Jason’s heart sinks in his chest and he has to swallow back the lump that forms in his throat.

He’s never been in the penalty box before. He feels isolated and ostracized. It’s his own fault, but still. He’s never done anything of this sort before. Even if his teammates weren’t angry with him (which they will be, he’s not _that_ foolish to think they wouldn’t be), he’s angry with himself. How can he be so stupid? His emotions have never overcome him during a game before.

The rest of the game is the longest four minutes of his life. When the buzzer blares and the other team celebrates their victory, Jason exits the penalty box, trying to think of what to do next. Apologize? Grovel? He isn’t sure there’s anything he can do to make up for his fuck up. If someone else were to pull a stunt like this, he’d be furious.

Chiron had been right all along. Relationships _would_ affect the team. Jason had been too head over heels to realize he wouldn’t be able to play as if everything was normal. He’s playing alongside his girlfriend and he’d do anything to protect her, even if that meant fighting the player who hurt her and getting ejected from the game.

The team says nothing as they leave the ice. They don’t even look at Jason and he almost wishes they would glare at him, or yell, or _something._ Anything. He hates this silence. He can feel the anger ripple off in waves from the team. He chooses to wait until they’ve walked away from the bench and towards the locker room before following behind. Even Piper doesn’t wait for him; she’s walking ahead beside Reyna, her knuckles stark white as she holds her stick like a weapon.

The locker room is one of Jason’s favorite places on the planet. But as he enters and his team stares up at him, the disappointment clear in their eyes, he wishes he could turn around and run away.

Chiron’s face reflects the same disappointment Jason sees in the team. Jason can feel his chest tighten as he sits down near his locker, noticing how Malcolm looks down at the ground instead of Jason. Nobody is speaking. Usually the locker room is buzzing after a game. Now the locker room is filled with nothing but silence.

“Tensions can run high towards the end of the season, and it’s evident that happened to us tonight,” Chiron starts out slowly. “The other team didn’t let up and the referees failed to do their doing. But that shouldn’t have affected the team as a whole and it certainly shouldn’t have resulted in a loss.”

Annabeth scoffs and doesn’t try to cover it up. Jason risks a glance at her and she’s pointedly not staring at him, her hands crossed tightly over her chest.

“This is a lesson all of us should learn from,” Chiron continues. “You can’t let your emotions shape the game for us. Anger and frustration are okay if it doesn’t consume you.”

Chiron may not be calling Jason out by name, but this talk is obviously directed at him. Even though Jason chooses to stare at his hands, he can feel several pairs of eyes on him.

“Hedge? Anything to add?” Chiron asks softly.

Hedge grunts and grips his bat tightly, almost as if he’s channeling his anger into his hold on it. “Do better next time,” is all he says.

Chiron sighs and looks at Percy. “Is there anything you want to say to the team, Percy?”

Jason tries to ignore the sting that comes with Chiron only acknowledging Percy.

Percy shakes his head once. His anger is dialed back, but Jason knows how angry he is. His jaw is clenched and the muscles are moving like he’s trying not to open his mouth. His eyebrows are pulled together, the crease so defined between his eyes that it looks permanently etched on his face. He hasn’t looked at Jason since the ejection.

“I’ll see you all at practice tomorrow, then,” Chiron says wearily. “Rest up and be prepared to work. We have a lot to improve before playoffs.”

Once the coaches leave, everybody seems to be in a hurry to leave, wrenching open their lockers and changing out of their uniforms. The locker room is still silent except for the sound of their equipment hitting the ground.

After several minutes of agonizing silence, Clarisse is the first one to break. “What the _fuck_ was that, Grace?” she demands, though her voice is less angry than it is frustrated. “You told us not to get frustrated and then you go crazy when someone got shoved.”

Piper is frozen, standing at her locker a few feet away. Her hand grips her locker door tightly and she’s chewing on her bottom lip nervously. Jason tries not to look at her, afraid to give everything away, so he just sighs and says halfheartedly, “I was just tired of doing nothing, so when it happened so close to me, I couldn’t do nothing.”

“Still,” Malcolm mumbles sourly as he pulls his sweatshirt over his head. “We lost because of it, Jason.”

When Jason risks another glance at Piper, she is staring into her locker, shuffling with whatever’s in there. He swallows and forces himself to lock eyes with Malcolm. “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Great job, golden boy.” Annabeth’s voice is thick with obvious animosity as she shoves her dirty jersey into her bag. “Captain of the year.”

 _Golden boy._ The nickname rolls off her tongue so effortlessly that Jason wonders if she’s used it before although he’s never heard it.

He chooses not to focus on the nickname, inhaling sharply to alleviate the hurt after her sarcastic captain comment. Here she is, shoving down his throat _again_ that he isn’t good enough to be her captain, or anyone’s captain, for that matter.

Annabeth is right. It’s just taken him all season to realize he doesn’t deserve this.

When Jason doesn’t reply, the team falls silent again. They start leaving, all of them flashing him a look of pity before exiting the locker room. They don’t want to stick around; who’d want to be around the player who lost the game for them? The only person who offers some sort of comfort is Frank, who smiles sadly and claps Jason on the shoulder before heading out.

Percy slams his locker shut and pulls his athletic bag over his shoulder. He still won’t look at Jason even as he approaches.

“Percy—” Jason tries.

Rather than a response or a glare, Percy’s shoulder bumps into his own, a subtle push. Jason moves aside, shocked at Percy’s coldness. Percy storms out of the locker room and doesn’t look back.

Annabeth shakes her head and puts her own bag over her shoulder. “See you at practice tomorrow, _captain_ ,” she spits out before turning on her heel and exiting the locker room as well.

With Annabeth gone, Jason is alone.

Or so he thinks.

Piper is still here. Her eyes scan the locker room, making sure they’re truly alone before she walks over to where Jason sits. He forces himself to lift his eyes up from his lap, where his gloves and elbows pads sit, to stare into her eyes.

The anger written on her face is evident. Piper’s brown eyes blaze and Jason can almost feel the heat radiating from them. Her hair, which had been tied back in two braids, now lays in a wavy mess down her back. She’s changed from her jersey into her Nike joggers, which should be a huge distraction to Jason, and her Eastview shirt. He searches her face and exposed skin for any sign of injury after being pushed against the glass but he finds none. He’s not sure if a lack of damage should relieve or frustrate him; he _did_ get ejected for defending her, after all.

“What were you thinking?” she asks angrily. “I told you during intermission I was fine and I could stand up for myself.”

“I know.” He tiredly tosses his gloves and elbow pads into his bag. “Trust me, Pipes, I know.”

“Then why fight the guy? You did nothing except screw the team over. Not only that, but now they could _know._ ” Although her word choice is harsh, her voice suddenly takes on a fearful tone. “If the coaches find out, we could get in trouble.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” He stands and her eyes flicker down, seemingly noticing he’s shirtless for the first time. “I don’t know why I did it.”

“You don’t know,” she repeats flatly.

“I don’t. I don’t even remember making the decision to do it. One second I was in front of the goal and the next thing I knew, I was pushing him against the glass.”

“I could’ve handled myself. He was just being a dick.”

“He was _twice_ your size. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”

“But I didn’t!” Her voice echoes around the empty locker room. “I’m fine! You didn’t have to fight him for a missed call!”

“I wasn’t the only one who was angry about the refs not calling it. Reyna was pissed.”

“Reyna didn’t fucking slam the guy against the glass!” Piper’s voice is getting louder and she reaches up, covering her face with her hands momentarily. “ _You_ were the only one to fight him because of it! I’ve been playing hockey since I was eight, Jason. I can handle being pushed around.”

“You’re used to girls pushing you against the glass,” he deadpans. “Not two hundred pound guys.”

This comment seems to offend her more than anything else he’s done that night. Her eyebrows shoot up and she gapes at him. “Are you saying I can’t handle my own against men?” she demands.

“I didn’t mean that and you know it.”

She takes a step closer to him, her teeth gritted. “I think it is. If a girl had pushed me, I can guarantee you wouldn’t have done that.”

“You have no idea what I would’ve done,” he responds.

“I do. I _know_ you. You were mad that some tall guy pushed your tiny, defenseless girlfriend around. I may not have been playing hockey as long as you, but I’m damn good at it, _captain._ I can defend myself.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t defend yourself.” Jason tries to keep his voice steady but it’s hard to do so when Piper is staring at him with the same indignation that Annabeth had displayed before leaving. “I just let my frustration get to me.”

“Yeah, well, your frustration is what’s going to make the team find out about us,” she shoots back. “God, Jason, don’t you realize how bad this is? I don’t know what the coaches will do about this,” Piper gestures wildly between the two of them, “but I really don’t want to find out. We can get suspended, or benched during playoffs, or _kicked off_ the team, or—”

Jason’s frustration is what lost the game for them. Jason’s frustration is what made Percy storm out of the locker room. Jason’s frustration has done more harm than good tonight.

But he isn’t going to let that unlucky streak continue.

He surges forward, not caring they’re in the locker room, grabbing Piper’s hips so tightly that he feels as though she’ll bruise. Before she can push him away, he slams his lips against hers, pulling her smaller body against his.

For a few moments, her lips are still against his and he thinks she’s going to pull away to continue yelling at him. Instead, her arms wrap around him, one hand reaching up to grip his hair. She responds back enthusiastically, immediately attempting to take control.

Not tonight, not now. There’s no way he’s going to let something else spiral out of control on his watch.

He uses his grip on her hips to move her, rotating his body until he pushes her against the lockers. She gasps into his mouth, though the sound is surprised rather than pained. He takes the sound as encouragement to continue kissing her, one hand tracing up her side and under her shirt. Her skin is soft and he wants to kiss every inch of it. It’s the least he can do after throwing the game away.

Before she can try to take over again, he moves his lips down, pressing open-mouthed kisses to her jaw. She moans, her fingers tightening in his hair as he does so. He moves down to her neck and it’s so difficult not to leave hickeys in his wake. She’d look so nice covered in his marks.

She whimpers and the sound awakens a primal side inside of Jason. His hand on her hip moves down, brushing along the front of her joggers. She moves her hips and he presses himself flush against her, preventing her from wiggling her body against him.

He can’t help himself; he rubs her where she needs him most through the fabric and the response is gratifying. She moans out his name and he can feel her knees buckle from the pleasure. He moves his leg to rest between her own, pressing himself even closer to her, if it’s humanly possible.

Although Jason wants this, _needs_ this, he knows sex in the locker room wouldn’t be his brightest idea. He moves his hand back up to Piper’s hip and she groans in protest. To stifle the noise, he slams his lips back into hers and it eases her impatience.

She bites down on his bottom lip, her teeth grazing against the swollen spot on his lip, and it’s his turn to gasp now. He can feel her lips twitch into a smirk against his own and he almost lets his guard down. Almost.

He hitches her shirt up more, hands grasping at her sides like she’s a lifeline. After the game, he needs something to reconnect him with normalcy. Although she’d been the one to destroy his old normal hockey life, he’d quickly revolved this new normal around her. His new normal consists of her, Percy, the team. Now Percy is furious with him and the team is disappointed in him for the first time. As a captain, he isn’t going to let that fly.

Piper pushed up against the lockers makes him remember how nice his new normal is.

Plus, Jason needs to take advantage of this normal since he easily could’ve screwed it up. His reaction had been unprecedented; he’s never acted so violently on the ice in his entire life. He’s been pushed around, Percy’s been pushed around, yet he’s never lashed out and gotten into a physical altercation. The team is bound to notice how he unraveled when Piper got pushed.

This kiss consumes him, reducing his breaths to airy pants and his head spins but he feels _good_. He can almost forget about losing the game as he feels Piper’s tongue trace along his bottom lip. The sensation he feels when she stumbles upon the swollen cut is almost cathartic.

For just a moment, everything is okay.

The sound of the locker room door opening is one Jason hears a lot. It’s impossible to ignore, after all, given that the door creaks each time it swings open, and when it shuts, the slam echoes throughout the entirety of the locker room.

But when he needs to hear it most, he doesn’t.

“ _What the fuck?_ ”

As soon as he hears the voice, Piper’s skin blazes under his hands and he yanks them away, his arms dropping to his sides as quickly as they’d come up to grab her. Their lips disconnect instantly and he can feel Piper’s palms against his chest, pushing him away from her. He nearly backs into the bench behind him and he can feel his stomach drop to his feet. Everything inside of him urges him to run or to explain himself, but he knows there’s nothing _to_ explain. The reality is right there, front and center. There’s no getting out of this one.

Jason looks up to Piper first. The blood has drained from her face, her eyes wide and she’s avoiding his gaze. Her hands are shaking and he can see her clench her fists to try and minimize the trembling to no avail. She isn’t looking at him. She’s looking at the intruder and Jason knows he needs to as well.

Percy is as still as a statue a few feet away from them, his bag on the floor beside him, an indicator that he’d dropped it in shock at the sight unfolding before him. His eyebrows are furrowed and Jason’s almost used to the way his eyebrows pull together, but this is a new expression on his face. His back is stiff and straight, almost as if someone’s shoved a metal rod into his spine to keep him upright. His fists are clenched so tightly they’re stark white. The muscles in his jaw are the only sign of movement as they clench and unclench, fixing into place. Jason’s never seen his friend so angry before, not even when they lost in the semifinals last season. Whenever he _is_ mad, his anger is directed elsewhere. But his eyes are focused solely on Jason.

“It’s not what it looks like,” is the first thing that slips out of Jason’s mouth.

From beside him, Piper winces because they _know_ it’s exactly what it looks like. In fact, it’s _worse_ than it looks— for all Percy knows, it’s just a kiss.

But it’s not just a kiss. It’s so much more than that.

“Then what the _fuck_ is it supposed to look like?” Percy’s voice is low, forceful, as if the slightest thing could set him off.

Jason tries to reply but his heart has suddenly inhabited itself in his throat, rendering his vocal cords useless when he needs to speak most. His mind is spinning at a million miles an hour and even if he could speak, he doesn’t have a valid excuse. Because Percy has to know. There’s no reason he _shouldn’t_ know what’s going on; Percy’s known about Jason’s crush on Piper before even Jason knew about his crush on Piper.

“Because it _looks_ like mister high and mighty is suddenly breaking the rules, throwing away the game to go make out with Piper.” Percy’s voice is edging close to a yell.

Jason can handle Percy yelling, but he isn’t going to stand idly by and have Piper go through it just because he was an idiot and lost the game for the team.

He inhales, taking a step towards Percy. He isn’t sure what exactly he’s going to say, but if he takes a stand first and yells, maybe it’ll lessen the blow from whatever Percy wants to say. Jason isn’t the type to play dirty… usually.

Before Jason can say anything, Piper’s hand is on his arm, grabbing his bicep. Although it’s meant to be comforting, it’s also a beckon to come back down from his high. “Calm down, babe,” she says gently.

Before can Jason come to his bearings and realize the word _babe_ is definitely not the right thing to say at a time like this, Percy cuts to the chase.

“BABE?! What do you mean _babe?!_ ” They’re no longer talking. They’re _yelling_ now. Percy’s words fill the silence in the once silent locker room. He takes a step forward, squaring his shoulders like he’s going to start swinging.

On instinct, Jason’s arm reaches towards Piper, acting almost like a shield between her and Percy’s approaching form. “Piper, just go,” he says lowly, trying not to reveal the emotion in his tone. He doesn’t want to worry her any more than she already is.

As Percy’s eyes flash down to Jason’s protective arm, a look of hurt registers on his face. But as quickly as it appears, it’s replaced with a mask of anger. “No, she should hear this,” Percy bites back. He takes a step back and it’s only then Jason drops his arm. “Since I’m assuming _this_ isn’t new.”

“Percy—”

“How long have you kept this from me?!” Although Percy is yelling, Jason can’t help but hear the betrayal in his voice. Jason doesn’t make an effort to respond, so Percy presses, “ _How long?_ ” Again, Jason’s voice fails him, so Percy’s eyes narrow in on Piper’s frozen form. “Piper?”

Piper inhales slowly and seems to fight back the earlier worry she’d been feeling. “Since the Christmas party.” Her voice is controlled and strangely calm, something that Jason wishes he can be now.

Percy blinks and takes a step back. He reaches up, running his fingers through his hair until it’s messier than his helmet hair. When he exhales, the sound is shaky, his eyes shutting as if he’s trying to hold everything together. Jason doesn’t blame him. It feels like the ground beneath his feet is giving out.

“Does anyone else know about… _this_?” Percy’s voice dips back down to nearly a whisper. Jason almost prefers the screaming.

“Just Reyna,” Piper says quickly. “That’s it.”

For some reason, that sets Percy off. “ _Reyna?_ I told you about Annabeth!” There goes the whispering. The screaming is back.

“You only told me about Annabeth because I walked in on you two!” Jason shoots back.

“I still owned up to it! I trusted you with Annabeth but you couldn’t trust me with Piper! I told you as soon as I could. You _chose_ not to tell me!”

“It’s not that easy!”

“Do you not _trust_ me?”

Jason falters for just a moment but he doesn’t let the hurt and betrayal hold him back. “Not everything’s about you, Percy!” he snaps. “This isn’t about me and you!”

“But it _is_! We’re co-captains. We’re supposed to be best friends. You’re supposed to trust me like I trusted you!”

“It didn’t start out casual like you and Annabeth.”

“But _I_ didn’t fall in love with her!” Percy hisses.

“But you _DID_ fall in love with her!” Jason’s scream echoes around the locker room.

Percy looks taken aback and he clenches his jaw before he can lose his grip. Even though he’s still angry, Jason knows his words are doing a number on him. “You have been guilting me for _months_ about breaking the rules when you were the only one who actually did!” Percy spits out.

Half of Jason wants to point out that Percy is avoiding his accusation, but he isn’t sure he wants to bring it up. If there’s any way to salvage this, he wants to. When the anger dissipates, he wants to be able to be okay. But the angry side of Jason wants to keep fighting.

“You may have not officiated anything yet, but you’re full of shit!”

Percy takes a ragged breath and barks out a bitter laugh. “ _I’m_ full of shit? At least _I_ didn’t affect the team!”

“It was _one_ game! We’re already guaranteed first seed in the playoffs! You’ve undermined me as captain because you favored her since the _first practice_! You can’t pretend you’ve done nothing.”

“I had to console a teammate!”

“ _Bull_ shit,” Jason deadpans, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re lying and you know it.”

“For being a good captain?”

“So suddenly being a good captain means pushing _me_ out?”

“The only reason you’re captain is because I asked you to be!” Percy yells.

There it is. Jason’s been grappling over the title for the entirety of the season and Percy had brushed off any worry. But here it is. The truth. Jason can almost see Annabeth’s smug grin because she’d been right the entire time.

“Of course.” Jason shakes his head and tries to see past the red tinting his vision. “Because _Annabeth_ thinks I shouldn’t be captain.”

“Stop dragging Annabeth into this! This is about _you_ lying to me and making me feel like shit. You’re a fucking hypocrite, golden boy.”

 _Golden boy._ Annabeth had called Jason this and although he’d never heard it before tonight, he realizes she must have used it before in conversation rather than just internal monologue. Since Percy just dropped the nickname, Jason now knows who exactly she’s been saying it to. And to think Percy actually tried to defend Jason to her.

“Okay, _fine_ , we established that I lied!” Jason raises his arms, giving Percy a false sense of security by temporarily surrendering. “I broke the rules. But you wouldn’t be fighting me right now if you weren’t insecure about you breaking the rules, too.”

“I wasn’t insecure! I was rooting for you!” Percy’s voice breaks. The sound should make Jason stop and wonder if this fight is worth the inevitable consequences.

Jason’s too angry to wonder if it’s worth it.

“You were rooting for us?” Jason gestures to Piper, who is frozen next to him. “ _This_ is rooting for us? You just wanted me to make the same mistake as you so you wouldn’t feel as bad!”

Piper inhales sharply, but Jason is too invested in this argument to back down now.

“This isn’t about you breaking that stupid rule. This about you lying. Why couldn’t you trust me with this?” Percy demands.

Jason can’t help but think maybe this wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t captain. If he didn’t have this stress, maybe he wouldn’t have caved into the temptation. He hates to think it, but maybe Piper wouldn’t have been so attracted to him if he _wasn’t_ captain. Maybe this leadership title fucked him up. If he’d been just goalie Jason, this wouldn’t be happening.

“Maybe you and Annabeth are right. Maybe I _shouldn’t_ be captain.” The words are hollow and for the first time, his words aren’t a scream.

“Yeah, maybe,” is Percy’s half-hearted snarl.

“But don’t count yourself out so fast,” Jason cuts in before Percy can get comfortable with this leg up. “You think you’re such a good captain, but no, you’re not much better than me. Remember when you said you wanted to _‘establish trust’_ with her? Now I know that was a lie. It’s only because you wanted to fuck her.”

Maybe Jason doesn’t mean his words, but he’s too angry to care about the repercussions.

Judging by the look on Percy’s face, Jason knows it’s over. There’s usually a winner in fights like this, but nobody is victorious. They both lost this fight. Jason may be a nearly untouchable goalie, but when it comes to Percy, he’s not bulletproof.

Percy shakes his head. For a second, Jason thinks he’s going to get the last word. But there’s a defeated, betrayed look on his face. He reaches down, hastily pulling his bag over his shoulder. When his eyes flicker to Piper, he looks apologetic, and he doesn’t meet Jason’s eyes again. He takes another shaky breath and turns his back on the locker room, and Jason, before leaving.

This time when the locker room door shuts, Jason can hear it slam.

When silence fills the locker room, Jason realizes his anger left with Percy. His chest feels hollow, almost as if his heart had been ripped from his sternum. His breathing is ragged, his fists unclenching as devastating horror hits him like a wave.

He’d gone too far. Percy had said some bad things, but there is no excuse for the things Jason said. If anyone spoke to him the way he spoke to Percy, he’d never forgive them.

His best friend, his co-captain… Jason has to sit down because his head suddenly spins so violently that it feels like he’s going to be sick.

It takes several moments for Jason’s vision to blur and he sucks in a shaky breath, trying to fight back the tears welling in his eyes. He can’t cry in front of Piper. She’s probably just as shaken as he is and the last thing she needs is to see him cry.

Piper is still standing, her body completely still. She’s staring at where Percy had been standing and Jason feels horrible for pulling her into his mess.

“I’m so sorry,” he rushes out, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m so, so, _so_ sorry you had to see that. I—I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to scare you, I swear, but I promise we’ll be okay. Percy and I have butt heads before, we’ll be okay eventually. We both just need to cool down and—”

“Mistake?” Piper’s voice, which is barely a whisper, catches on the word. When she turns her head to meet Jason’s eyes, he can see her own eyes filling with tears. “You think this is a mistake?”

It takes Jason a moment to realize what she’s saying. His own words echo back to him: _You just wanted me to make the same mistake as you so you wouldn’t feel as bad!_

Jason had said _mistake._ He’d accidentally called his relationship a Piper a mistake.

“No, no!” He shakes his head frantically as she looks somewhere over his shoulder, a heartbroken expression on her face. He can feel his chest physically ache and panic expands within him like a balloon threatening to pop. “I didn’t mean it like that, I’m not good with words! Pipes, listen to me, please, this is _not_ a mistake. It may be breaking the rules, yes, but I’ve never thought of this as a mistake. Please don’t think I think that, because I don’t. Not for one second. I want to be with you, deciding to be your boyfriend was _not_ a mistake. Piper, look at me, please, _I love you_.”

The words slip out before he can think them through. But once he says them, he can see her eyes widen and her watery eyes meet his and the panic is replaced by a sense of affirmation.

There’s no doubt in Jason’s mind— he loves Piper. He fought someone who had tried to hurt her and got ejected for it. Even with the given consequences, he knows he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

But she starts shaking her head and the affirmation switches back to panic.

“I can’t…” Her voice breaks and a tear slips free. She hastily wipes it away and she blinks rapidly. “I can’t say it back, Jason. Not like this. It’d feel wrong.”

The lump in his throat makes things so much worse. When he blinks, he can feel the first tear slip free. He turns his head and stares at the floor, squeezing his eyes shut as the tears fall. The pain from his fight with Percy mixes with the sting of rejection and he can’t help but cry.

“No, Jason.” Piper sinks down onto the bench beside him, cupping his cheek in her hand and tilting his head so he looks at her. Her eyes are red but there are no signs of tears in her eyes or her cheeks. “I don’t mean it in a bad way. Just because I can’t say it back doesn’t mean I don’t mean it.”

“Really?” he asks, wincing at the sound of his voice breaking.

“I just… It’s too much. Hearing you call us a mistake, Percy finding out, the fight…” She shakes her head and presses her lips to his forehead. “I can’t, but it doesn’t mean I’ll never say it.”

It stills hurts, but Jason knows he can’t blame Piper. So much has happened in the past several minutes and it’s unfair of him to expect an _I love you_ back. He loves her more than words can describe and he doesn’t need to hear it to justify his own feelings for her.

“I’m sorry,” he says weakly. “For the game, for the fight, for calling us a mistake. I’m sorry for everything.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” she murmurs.

“I have to.”

She shakes her head. “People do stupid things when they’re upset. You’re human, it happens. You shouldn’t expect perfection. Nobody is perfect.”

Jason has to bite back a comment about how Annabeth demands perfection, but his mind flashes to Percy’s hurt expression and he can’t bring himself to say it.

“Is Percy going to be okay?” Piper asks. “Are you guys going to be able to work this out?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admits. “We’ve never fought like that before. Not even when I found out about him and Annabeth.” Piper’s eyes flicker away from his face and he sees her bite down on her bottom lip. “Did you know about them?”

“No,” Piper mumbles. “I didn’t.”

“I thought you guys were best friends.”

“We are.” Her response is clipped. “I just… I don’t know, Jason. There has to be a reason she didn’t tell me.”

Jason wants to believe it since Percy didn’t tell him either, but it only discourages him more. Maybe the term _best friend_ doesn’t hold much meaning anymore.

“I’m sorry I called you babe,” Piper says, casting her eyes downward. “I didn’t even think about it. If I hadn’t slipped up, maybe Percy wouldn’t have been so mad.”

“Hey.” Jason reaches forward and grabs her chin lightly, bringing her head level with his so she can meet his eyes. “It’s not your fault, okay? Don’t blame this on yourself, Pipes. He was going to find out anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Conflict flickers in her eyes and she still looks guilty.

“I’m sure.” He leans forward and presses a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m sure he would’ve connected the dots after my fight. I’ve never fought anyone in a game before.”

“Still. He caught us after I confronted you about it.”

“I was the one to kiss you, remember?” He shakes his head wearily. Piper’s tendency to blame herself reminds Jason of Percy, which is a maddening trait only the best people have. “I should’ve just kept my hands to myself and Percy wouldn’t have walked in on us.”

She sighs and shakes her head. “Are you going to talk to him tonight?” she asks.

“I don’t know.” Truth be told, Jason isn’t sure Percy will even be home tonight. “I’m not sure he’ll want to talk to me after that. I wouldn’t want to talk to me, either.”

“Hey.” It’s Piper’s turn to comfort him. “He said a lot of hurtful things to you. You shouldn’t completely blame yourself, either.”

“I had the last word.”

“Anyone could’ve had the last word.” She puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes it. “You’ve blamed yourself for too many things tonight. Let’s stop dwelling on it, okay? We both need to clear our minds and go home. We also need sleep.”

Even though Jason wants to acknowledge his guilt head-on, he knows Piper is right. There is practice tomorrow and he can’t waste his night being plagued with critical thoughts. He may be responsible for some of the events that unfolded tonight, but Percy isn’t completely innocent. Jason can’t carry the blame alone.

The idea of going home scares Jason shitless. Even though Percy has told Jason he and Annabeth have a strict rule regarding sleepovers, Jason knows Percy well enough to know he’s too angry to return home.

Plus, Jason doesn’t want to be alone.

“Will you stay the night?” he asks softly. “I don’t want to be alone right now.”

Piper’s eyes soften and she nods. “Of course,” she whispers. “I’m in your corner, okay? Never doubt that for a second.”

Although the idea of Piper on Jason’s side is comforting, the one person who’s been in his corner this entire season is gone, and it’s Jason’s fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I will surrender tonight  
>  Before we both lose this fight  
> Take my defenses  
> All my defenses  
> I lay down this armor **
> 
> ...now can you see why we warned you guys about chapter six?  
> No, part of this chapter isn't missing. It's purposely all in Jason's POV, but don't worry, you'll get Percy's POV soon!  
> I'm so sorry for the nearly month wait, but I hope this chapter and all its drama were worth the wait! It was as painful (but fun) to write this chapter as I'm sure it was reading it, so I really hope you guys enjoy it.  
> Songs for this chapter are Let Me Down Slowly // Alec Benjamin and Armor // Landon Austin. 


	7. Can I Lean On You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW Warning: This chapter contains explicit sex.
> 
>  
> 
> **Been one of those days**  
>  **Sun don't wanna come out**  
>  **Can you help me out?**  
>  **Can I lean on you?**  
> 

Percy storms out of the arena with his bag on his back and his shoulders tense, half hoping Jason will come running out the door and knowing with everything in him that won’t happen.

He recalls a conversation they had after losing their semifinals game last year. Jason had talked Percy down from the ledge of emotions he was teetering dangerously close to the edge of, and he had done it like it was easy. Jason said that instead of feeling sad or angry, he usually goes numb.

Percy wishes he was the same way. Anything would be better than feeling like this.

The hometown crowd cleared out quickly after Eastview’s loss, so Jason’s car and Percy’s are among the last left in the parking lot. He makes his way to his car, casting one last glance at the arena door before sliding into the driver’s seat.

His phone is silent in his gym bag, and Percy isn’t sure if that’s for better or worse. Jason isn’t going to call him tonight, that much Percy knows. What he doesn’t know is if he wants Jason to call anyway.

Too many thoughts bounce around his mind, echoing in his skull like their voices in the locker room mere minutes ago.

Jason and Piper making out, even dating, he has no issue with. He _had_ been rooting for them, he thinks bitterly, regardless of whatever Jason thinks of him.

_God, what does Jason think of him?_

Given the last words of the fight, Jason doesn’t think much of him. Percy knows he crossed a line by saying Jason shouldn’t be captain, but Jason’s insult (he can’t bring himself to repeat it, even in thought) tells Percy all he needs to know about Jason’s opinion of him. People say things they don’t mean when they’re mad—Percy knows this, he demonstrated it himself tonight—but the things they say are based at least somewhat in truth. Those thoughts come from _somewhere_.

One of the arena doors opening in the rear view mirror catches Percy’s eye. He sucks in a sharp breath of anticipation, ready to put his car in drive and roll out at a moment’s notice, but escape ends up being unnecessary for now. It’s just a custodian walking to one of the cars parked in the opposite direction of where Percy lurks.

Still, it’s enough to jar Percy out of his self-pity and realize he needs to leave before Jason and Piper come out. Jason parked directly across from Percy, which is a level of awkwardness that Percy would sooner die than face.

He digs his phone from his gym bag and jams the aux cord into it, mindlessly choosing a playlist to put on shuffle before pulling out of the desolate parking lot.

The arena fades into the rest of the college town in his rearview mirror. What was once Percy’s safe haven is now hostile territory; going back on the ice means going back to Jason—a prospect he knows he isn’t ready for.

Passing street lights blur together as Percy passes under them. He’s going fast, maybe _too_ fast, blazing a trail that leads to nowhere in his desperation to put space between himself and the arena, himself and _Jason_.

Where is he going to go? Even though Reyna knows about Jason and Piper, Percy is willing to bet they’re going back to his and Jason’s apartment tonight. They’re probably thankful for his absence.

He can’t believe they told _Reyna_. If nobody knew, maybe Percy could respect it. That was his plan with Annabeth before it all went to shit.

But no, them telling Reyna meant that they could’ve told Percy, and Percy knows that Piper wasn’t the one to make that decision. _Jason_ decided not to trust Percy.

That may be an oversimplification, but that’s what it boils down to for Percy: trust. Percy may not have told Jason about Annabeth right away, but he would have out of trust for his friend if the situation had allowed.

_Trusted_. That trust is about gone at the moment.

Percy thought the maddest he’d ever see Jason was after the Halloween party, but he was wrong. The fury on Jason’s face when he yelled in the locker room was one thing, but the way he quieted down at the end of the fight disturbed Percy the most. There was a cold, dry type of anger that Percy didn’t know Jason was capable of. Or at least capable of directing at _him_.

The significance of this is not lost on Percy. He knows he chose Annabeth over Jason too many times, but it was the least painful way to go about things. Now, seeing Jason choose Piper over him countless times in the span of an hour… maybe Jason’s pain makes sense.

Jason wasn’t wrong in saying that Percy undermined him, but letting Jason and Annabeth settle their differences on their own seemed like the best way forward at the time. Now Percy sees that he was only sparing _himself_ the pain, and he’d even failed at that.

In his worry, Percy starts to lose track of his turns. He’s in an unfamiliar part of the outskirts of town, some residential district he definitely shouldn’t be driving through at this speed.

When he sees an empty strip mall parking lot, he swerves in and beaches his car under the lone streetlight. The engine cuts off as he pulls the keys from the ignition and leans back in his seat.

“I’m such a fucking _idiot_ ,” Percy yells, slamming his hands on the steering wheel. He knows he’s alone—he feels that all too much right now—but the words escape without his consent.

If he just hadn’t gone back to hash it out with Jason, he wouldn’t have found out. Jason would still be lying to him, but they’d be together. Percy wants that more than anything, especially now that he knows he’s on his own.

Regardless of where Jason ends up, Percy can’t go back to the apartment. Not now. Not when that place reminds him so strongly of Jason.

He could go to his mom’s. There’s a bed that’s his own and an apartment free of reminders of Jason.

But his mom would take one look at the state he’s in and know everything. Percy isn’t sure he wants that. She’d know what to do, she always does, but he doesn’t want her to worry any more than she already is. He doesn’t want her to know about the things he’s done, the people he’s hurt.

New York City is too far away right now; Percy doesn’t trust himself enough for a drive that long. Going to his mom’s isn’t an option.

The thought of distance brings up thoughts of Grover, who Percy has never missed more than he does in this moment. Grover, who doesn’t always know the right thing to say but always knows how Percy feels. He’d give anything to talk to him right now, but Grover is an ocean away and sound asleep. Even if Percy were to call him at this time of night, he knows Grover is too heavy of a sleeper to wake up and answer.

There’s only one other place he can go.

_No_ , Annabeth is part of what he’s running from. He can’t trust himself to go there without a clear head; he’s made enough mistakes tonight as it is.

Annabeth was a factor in all of this, and Percy needs to distance himself from the mess tonight. Going to her after the fact will only make things worse. That isn’t a fear—it’s a fact.

But he puts his key back in the ignition anyway.

Because as much as he hates to admit it, he needs her. It ridiculous to be so dependent on a girl he lies to everyday, but he is.

Lying is the problem here; lying to Annabeth about his feelings, lying to Jason about Annabeth, Jason lying about Piper. Some of that is out of the control, but Percy was never helpless in any of this. Just because it’s the path of least resistance doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone. In trying to hide the truth from Annabeth and Jason, he ended up hurting them, Piper, and the team. He hadn’t even avoided his own pain, only delayed it.

The drive to Annabeth’s isn’t nearly as long as his first drive; it’s surprisingly close to the parking lot he found himself in. Even with all of his efforts to put distance between them, even when he’s lost in unfamiliar surroundings, his subconscious still brings him close to her. Maybe that’s a sign. Percy knows where to drive now, but he’s still plenty lost.

Before he can think critically about what he’s going to do, he finds himself in the elevator, pushing the button for her floor. And walking down the hallway. And fishing the spare key out of the potted plant it’s hidden in.

He pushes the key into the lock and swings the door open to see Annabeth going over notes on the couch. Her hair is up in a bun on top of her head and she’s wearing a big shirt and pajama shorts. He can’t tell if she was expecting him, but she doesn’t look too surprised to see him.

When he doesn’t say anything in greeting, her eyebrows knit together in concern. She rises from the couch and sets her notes down on the table beside it. “Percy, what’re you doing here?”

She knows. She has to know something is wrong. But Percy can’t talk about it, at least not yet. He didn’t come here to talk.

He crosses the distance between them and she just has time to ask if he’s okay before he swallows her voice. Annabeth doesn’t protest the change, just winds her arms around his neck and tangles her fingers in his hair, and _this_ is exactly what he needs right now. Everything that’s bothering him fades into the background, is drowned out by the sound of her exhale and the warmth of her touch.

But he needs more. His hands find her waist and pull her flush against him without breaking the kiss, eliciting a squeak of surprise from her that he uses to swipe his tongue into her mouth and gain the upper hand. One hand stays firmly around her while the other tucks a curl behind her ear and rests against her face.

They hit the wall with a grunt and break the kiss for a moment. Annabeth inhales to say something and he lowers his lips to hers instead, pressing her back against the wall and shoving his leg between her own.

A vision of Jason and Piper in this same position enters his head before he can stop it. He sees the terror reflected in Piper’s eyes as she sees him over Jason’s shoulder and—

_No_. He places his hands under Annabeth’s ass, using his height as leverage to push her up the wall. Annabeth’s legs wrap around his waist as she’s lifted off her feet, and Percy turns to deposit her on the kitchen table.

He stumbles to it and nearly falls on the way. Annabeth gasps when he all but drops her on it, and she tugs him even closer in her surprise. Instead of him falling to her side, she pulls his momentum straight into her, causing them to tumble until her back is flat against the wood.

She grunts into his mouth on the impact and he winds an arm around her to hold the back of her head in apology. And to keep her close. He can multitask.

His other hand skims down her side to pull her leg up by the back of her thigh. Her own hands thread into his hair and keep him trapped in a burning kiss despite the fact that he is incapable of pulling away at the present moment.

She rolls her hips into his, sending a jolt through his body and making him rock into hers.

Though the last thing he wants is less contact, Annabeth nudges him back to lift her hips and drag her shorts down her legs. In a matter of moments she’s laying there, smirking up at him in that oversized t shirt and blue panties. She definitely knew he was coming tonight.

With that same smirk tugging on her lips, Annabeth pulls him back down to her. But from that point on, Percy is in control. He plants an arm underneath her both to support himself and to arch her body into his while his other hand slips under her shirt to tease at the sensitive skin there. Within moments he finds that she isn’t wearing a bra, a detail he’d apparently missed when their bodies were pressed against each other. He feels her smile against his lips at the discovery.

A small voice in the back of his head whispers to take her here and now on the kitchen table, but he holds onto his self control for the moment. They’ve done it in worse places, but he needs to be able to feel her right now, and he isn’t going to be able to get that without a bed. He’s tired of emotionless sex. It was never emotionless, just held back under the guise of it. Percy is done holding back.

Painstakingly, Percy pushes himself upright, trying not to pay attention to the adorable way her forehead wrinkles in frustration. Annabeth follows his lead and he tugs her into him, sliding her to the edge of the table and capturing her in yet another kiss.

It goes according to plan: Annabeth winds her arms around his neck and locks her legs around his waist. In one swift movement, Percy pulls her off the table and supports her as she clings to him.

He wastes no time in braving the familiar path to her bedroom, pausing only to lay her out on the bed in front of him. He gives her no opportunity to turn the tide before pressing his body into hers.

But Annabeth is not one to lay down and take it—there’s a certain level of work that has to be done before he can have his way with her.

In that familiar fashion, she wedges her arms between their bodies and holds his face in her hands. “You’re _sure_ everything is okay?” she echoes her earlier question.

“You’re still wearing that damn shirt, so no,” he pants, looking at her lips all the while.

Annabeth steers his gaze to hers and searches his eyes, doubt flooding her own, until something gives out and she tugs him back down to her. Percy attaches his lips to her neck and sucks harder than usual—not actively trying to leave hickeys, but not preventing them either.

It’s enough to draw a moan from her, a long, low sound that he never wants to stop hearing. That sound deepens his resolve to kiss lower down her neck, stopping at the collar of her old t shirt. He pushes it up her body until it’s high enough for him to continue on his path; she pulls it off the rest of the way once he moves on.

Percy is used to Annabeth’s impatience, but how unrelenting she is in her efforts to push him where she wants never ceases to amaze him. Regardless, he kisses down her body until she’s writhing underneath him, delighting in the sounds of frustration and arousal falling from her lips. He takes his time, like always, watching her mouth fall open and her chest rise and fall rapidly.

His mouth levels with the waistband of those damn panties, which he drags down her long legs.

She wraps her legs around him once he gets low enough, and he has no doubt they’ll clamp around his head once he finally gives her what she wants.

He decides to make her wait just a few moments longer.

He glances up at her from between her legs to meet her responding glare.

“What’s gotten into you?” she pants. “You know what? I don’t care. Just don’t stop.”

And really, how can he deny a request like that?

Percy dips his head and lowers his mouth to her, smiling when her legs tighten around his head as expected. He pries them apart and pushes down to keep his control, holding her still while he presses long kisses to her clit. At the first contact, a loud moan escapes Annabeth, and it’s a sound unlike anything he’s ever heard from her.

That sound sends a thrill shooting through him and doubles his effort. His hands clamp on her legs, taking full control and giving him full access to her. Annabeth is pliant to his touch, something he usually has to work far more to earn.

Every time Annabeth makes a sound or tugs him against her, Percy switches the pace or location of his mouth. He builds her up to the edge slowly, refusing to do anything but the absolute best for her.

When her legs start shaking, he gives her what she wants. He keeps her on the brink for five devastating seconds before letting her fall over the edge.

A string of curses follows Percy’s name tumbling from her lips as he works her through her high. Her voice is strained, and she makes no attempt to cover this up. That’s what signals to Percy that he has her where he wants her.

Before she can come down from her first high, Percy is already working her toward her next. He’s determined to make her come as many times as possible tonight. He pushes a finger into her and pulls back to watch his effect.

Another finger quickly follows as he builds speed and Annabeth cries out with increasing volume and frequency. No time is wasted on this second bout; his focus is entirely on driving her to her next orgasm as quickly as possible.

Annabeth lets out a single breathy “ _fuck_ ,” which Percy takes as his signal to add a third finger and let her fall apart.

This is a sight he will never get tired of seeing; even when sex is a thinly veiled expression of his feelings, the way Annabeth looks when he makes her come is one of the most beautiful things he’s ever laid eyes on. Only he gets to do this to her, have this effect on her. This isn’t a thought of possession, but belonging. They have belonged to each other for far longer than either of them are ready to admit. She is his as much as he is hers—he can see it in the way she looks at him. He’s known it since the incident with Rachel and had his suspicions for about twice as long.

Just as he dips down for a third time, Annabeth’s desperate voice floats down to him. “Percy, please.”

He lifts his head to look at her. Frustration is plain on her face, juxtaposed with satisfaction that lays in the same lines of her forehead. Longing is somewhere in there too, he thinks.

“What?” he asks, teasing his fingers at her entrance. He isn’t sure where it comes from, but the sigh he earns is worth it.

“You _know_ what,” she tries. Her hand finds his and she attempts to pull him up her body.

“I want to hear it.” His voice cuts through the silence of the room, and Annabeth stills, her eyes dark. Percy plants kisses along the apex of her thigh, but otherwise does not move. He watches as she struggles with the words and speaks again just to make things harder for her. “C’mon, Annabeth. Tell me what you want.”

“ _God_ , you’re an ass,” she pants. When he starts sucking a mark on the inside of her thigh, she caves. “Fuck, okay. I want you to fuck me, Percy.”

Even with her shelving her pride to ask, Percy doesn’t give in right away. Instead, he meanders his way back up her body, sucking on the parts of her body he knows turn her on. First he stops at her hip bone, then the soft spot on the side of her ribcage, then her breasts. He spends a long time there, taking one of her nipples into his mouth and teasing it, grazing it with his teeth until she cries out.

Annabeth’s chest is heaving by the time his lips find her collarbone and suck at the soft skin there.

“Not there. Harder to hide. Lower,” she manages.

Percy wasn’t trying to leave a mark, but if she’s going to ask for one… He backs down to her breasts, his breath fanning over them as he looks up for a sign of confirmation that this is what she wants.

Confirmation comes from Annabeth tugging his head down to her body and tangling in his hair to hold him there. Instead of letting her run the show, Percy catches her wrist and brings her hand down to the bed, lacing their fingers in the process. Annabeth struggles against his hold, but it’s tight.

Her free hand presses into his back as he sucks at her skin. He can tell by the way her fist digs into him that she’s trying to stop herself from using her nails, but her back arches and she lets out a moan that drives the thought from his mind.

Eventually he finds himself at her neck, pressing slow kisses into the spot below her ear.

“Percy,” she pleads, and he remembers her earlier request.

The condoms are in the top drawer of her bedside table, as always. Not wanting to waste any more time, Percy rolls it on and returns to Annabeth.

He thrusts into her and swallows her cry of relief. For a moment, he keeps things slow, letting her adjust herself as needed.

When she changes the angle of their hips, she moans into his mouth before holding his face in her hands and intensifying the kiss, telling him to move faster. He complies, focusing more on depth than speed, but still moving fast enough to give her what she wants.

Her hands are fisted at his back again, her knuckles sliding over his shoulder blades as he shifts his weight. Annabeth breaks the kiss to let her head roll to the side in pleasure, opening up her neck to his lips. Before he moves in, he pulls one of her hands between them and holds it while he breathes in her ear.

“Do what you need to, Annabeth. Whatever you need.” He releases her hand and she gets his message, unclenching her fists and dragging her nails lightly down his back. Encouraging her to let go further, Percy attaches his lips to her neck and increases the intensity of his kisses in sync with his thrusts.

At last her nails dig into his skin, all reservations finally abandoned. He’ll wear a shirt in the locker room tomorrow; he doesn’t care. Tomorrow is such a distant thought, anyway. All he cares about right now is Annabeth.

He doesn’t set out with the intentions of edging her, but he slows his pace to prolong the moment and she curses him for it.

“I was so close, you—” her complaint dies in her throat when he thrusts hard, jolting her body underneath him. “ _Fuck_ ,” she pants.

From there he dials it back, keeping his thrusts deep, but slow, spending more time on finding other ways to drive her insane with his hands and mouth. He builds his pace back up at his leisure, increasing it whenever she makes a sound he hasn’t heard yet tonight.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he commands, and she does. The new angle allows him to go deeper than before. He wraps his arm around her waist to arch her back and hit her g spot, delighting in the way she moans when he does.

At the sight of the familiar furrow of her brow, Percy knows she’s getting close and slows his pace one last time. He draws her orgasm out of her, gently breaking the wave instead of letting it crash.

Annabeth’s hands glide up and down his back before clutching at his shoulders—the last tell that she’s on the edge. Percy pulls back to watch her face during the last few thrusts to send her over. They’re swift, drawn out pauses between them to make her tumble as slow as possible.

Her jaw drops, but her voice gets caught in her throat and she lets out no sound. He doesn’t stop moving above her, now seeking to reach his own release and prolong hers.

Once Annabeth comes to her senses, she throws her arm around Percy’s neck and pulls him flush against her. She gives his hair a sharp tug, earning a groan from him.

When that doesn’t send him over the edge, she pulls him closer yet and attaches her lips to his neck, then moans in his ear and tugs on his earlobe with her teeth.

_That_ does bring him crashing down, and a few erratic thrusts later he’s finishing inside her, catching her lips with his until they’re both breathless.  

For a moment, everything is still, calm even. He can feel Annabeth’s heartbeat against his chest, see the way her eyes flutter open to look up at him, hear her slow exhale.

Eye contact is too much right now. Percy shifts his body down hers and buries his face in her neck. Everything is alright, everything is warm and safe. But then the sound of Jason’s voice pops back into his head.

“ _But you DID fall in love with her!_ ”

Percy can’t take that thought right now, not after everything that’s happened tonight. He needs Annabeth, he can’t let himself dwell on the fact that he’s gone and done the one thing that is guaranteed to lose her.

He pushes himself up and back over her, capturing her lips in another kiss. There’s so much that he needs this to say in ways that he’ll never be able to with words; he tries to pour it all into the kiss until his lungs burn.

Annabeth must sense his desperation because she puts a hand on his chest and pulls away. “Okay,” she says, breathless, “what’s wrong?”

Unwilling to talk about it, Percy dips his head back down for another kiss. Annabeth gives in, which he doesn’t expect. She hitches a leg over his hip and puts her hands on his shoulders—

And suddenly he’s on his back looking up at her. Her legs bracket his hips and she plants her hands firmly on his chest.

“Percy, what’s wrong?” Her voice is tinged with concern, sending a rush of guilt through Percy.

“Nothing,” he lies.

She frowns down at him, exasperation joining the mix of emotions on her face, and sighs. “Bullshit. I thought you came here to blow off some steam after the loss, but this is more than that.”

“It really isn’t,” he tries. But that wasn’t just blowing off steam, and they both know it.

This time Annabeth shrugs and swings her leg over to fall onto the bed beside him. His entire body protests the loss of hers, and he turns on his side to face where she stands and digs through the laundry for an oversized shirt. His boxers land on the bed in front of him; he eyes her warily as he straightens up and takes the sign to put them on.

Annabeth falls back into bed, her voice resigned when she speaks. “Then maybe you should go home.”

And how is Percy supposed to react to that? The thought of going home and risking seeing Jason—or worse, Jason and Piper—makes him sick to his stomach. His blood runs cold and his thoughts become a hurricane, all of them panicked and desperate. Annabeth’s was supposed to be the one place he could go to tonight. This is the only safe space he has left after all that’s happened.

He finds himself beside her in bed, one of his shaking hands on the side of Annabeth’s neck before he can stop it. She feels its unsteadiness and turns to look at him, her eyebrows knit together with worry.

“Please.” He takes a moment to compose himself, but it’s futile. He comes undone under her watchful eye; there’s no way he can stay together with her looking at him this way. “I can’t go home. Can I _please_ stay?”

Her hand comes up to hold his wrist as she nods, her eyes searching his. “Yeah. But you’re out on the couch unless you tell me what’s got you so worked up.”

Percy feels himself tense at her prompting him. Ever perceptive, Annabeth catches this and holds his wrist tighter, removing his hand from her face long enough to press a feather light kiss against his pulse point. It’s so quick, he almost doubts that it happened. Maybe he can’t even trust his own senses anymore.

But her hand presses above his on her neck, solidifying this moment and his presence in it. This is real, more real than anything else tonight. He did _not_ imagine that kiss.

She leans into his hand, her eyes still begging the question, and he does not destroy everything—has not destroyed this. At least not yet. And even after all the rules he’s broken, she is here. She is here kissing his wrist in bed, and there is no fear in her eyes, only concern. Looking at her, Percy does not think of Jason or Piper or the coaches or the loss or all that’s gone wrong tonight. He only thinks of Annabeth.

Annabeth, who is not pulling away despite the emotions written on Percy’s face and the fact that love is almost certainly among them.

His resolve to stay silent crumbles.

“I was going back to… talk to Jason after everybody cleared out. I’ve never seen him like that. I was mad, but more worried than anything else, I guess. And I—I walked in on Jason and Piper making out against the lockers.” Percy goes to continue, but he doesn’t know what else to say, how to articulate everything going on in his head.

Annabeth’s face is impossibly neutral as she takes in the information. She tries for a smile and says, “We’ve done a lot worse in that locker room,” but the joke falls flat.

“They’re dating, Annabeth. They have been since the Christmas party.”

That wipes the smile from her face. In her confusion, her hand tightens around his.

“Did you know?” he manages.

“No,” she says firmly, furrowing her brow. “I thought—I had a feeling she might be seeing someone, but she never mentioned it and I…” her eyes dart away from Percy’s, “I didn’t want to risk her turning it on me. Piper and I, we don’t lie to each other, we just can’t. We’d both know the truth as soon as the words came out. We just omit the truth, I guess. Not that it’s much better.”

“Well it looks like Jason and I _do_ lie to each other,” Percy says bitterly.

“Percy, what happened in that locker room?” Slowly, Annabeth brings their hands from her face to rest between their bodies, squeezing in slight encouragement.

Dear god, he can’t tell her all of it. Not after those last few rounds of insults sounding off like gunfire in his head. He tries to get as far into events as he can without breaking, which only turns out to be a minute’s worth.

“And he put his arm out in front of her to protect her from me.” The words choke up in his throat, so he falls on his back to look at the ceiling. There’s no way he can look at her while he says this no matter how much it needs to be said. “I—” He can’t breathe. He’s choking on all of the times he stood in front of his mother like that, the same expression on his face that Jason looked at him with tonight. All those moments claw their way out of his throat, and he can’t. He just can’t.

Tears prick behind his eyes, and he squeezes them shut. This wasn’t what he wanted, to fall apart like this in front of Annabeth. He has to be strong for her, for the team, for his mom, for everyone he cares about too much to let down.

“Percy.” Her voice is impossibly soft, and he knows looking her in the eyes will be his breaking point.

He shakes his head like a small child, exhaling shakily in an effort to keep it together.

She leans in close and shifts up his body, her gentle hand sliding along his jaw to lead his gaze to hers. When he finally meets her eyes, he finds none of the pity he expected. Worry, yes, but empathy above all. The sight of it drives the air from his lungs.

And then she leans down to kiss him with that same tenderness.

Her shirt rubs against his arm where he reaches to hold her, the feeling of clothing between their skin making this experience entirely foreign. She’s made it clear sex is not going to follow. The one rule he never dared break out of fear for its direct implications, and _Annabeth_ is the first to break it.

Percy forces himself to stop overthinking. Annabeth is kissing him, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make the most of it. He slides an arm around her waist and pulls her into him, bunching the fabric of her shirt (his shirt, he realizes) in his hand. The elbow she’s supporting herself with slips out from under her, sending her full weight into Percy, who rolls with it and pulls her on top of him.

Her newly freed hand joins her other in cupping his face like he’s entirely breakable, which he supposes he is right now. But the steady pressure of Annabeth above him outweighs anything else worrying him at the moment. _This_ he can lose himself in. Annabeth and her gentle kisses, both familiar and entirely foreign.

He wraps his other arm around her as well, holding her there and dreading the moment when she pulls away, knowing he won’t be the first to do so.

When the moment comes, Annabeth keeps her face inches from his, her breath ghosting over his lips.

Her hand slides up and pushes his hair from his forehead, her touch still painstakingly tender. And he doesn’t—he has no idea what this means.

That little voice in the back of his head that he’s tried to silence for so long refuses to be ignored. But if he entertains it and ends up being wrong—

“Percy,” Annabeth echoes, her voice devastatingly breathless. “It’s okay. Hey, look at me. It’s okay.” She pushes herself upright, her legs bracketing his hips while she sits in his lap and beckons him to follow.

Where does he put his hands? How far is crossing the line after a kiss like _that?_

Annabeth answers for him, guiding his hands to her waist and leveling their eyes.

“It was a fight,” she starts slowly, bringing him back to the gravity of the situation. “You stepped forward. I’m sure what Jason did was just on instinct. Switch the scenario. If Jason had stormed into the laundry room and started yelling, what would you have done?”

“I—” Percy is held captive by her gaze, so he closes his eyes to think. The answer escapes with a sigh. “I would’ve done the same thing.”

“And Jason and Piper have been dating for, what, three months?” She continues after a sharp nod from him. “I don’t think he thought you would hurt her, I think that’s just an instinct when there’s a threat in the same room as someone you care about.” Her thumb traces along his jaw. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. A knee jerk reaction doesn’t suddenly make you a danger.”

_Someone you care about. That’s putting it lightly_ , Percy thinks. But he doesn’t know how he would’ve reacted if she said anything else.

“How are you so calm?” he asks, his voice pathetically small.

“Oh, trust me, I’m _pissed_.” A harsh laugh falls from her lips. Anger passes over the lines on her face before she smooths it away. “But you don’t need that right now. You’ve had enough anger for one night.” Her hand returns to his hair. Her eyes widen and she rushes to add, “Not at you, I’m not mad at you, oh my god. I’m mad at golden boy and Piper, but that’s a fight for another day. I’m more worried about you right now. I can tell there’s more you aren’t telling me.”

Annabeth’s nickname for Jason, the one that rolled too quickly off Percy’s tongue when his temper lit up, brings him back to the fight for a moment.

“Stop calling him that.”

She lifts an eyebrow at him, not combative enough to be hostile, but enough to tell him that she needs an explanation.

“It, uh, came up during the fight. It was a pretty big point of contention, actually.”

“The nickname Jason has never heard before today,” she asks softly, “or me?”

Percy drops his eyes to his lap. “Both.”

“How so?” Her voice tells Percy she has an idea, so why does he struggle with the words?

“The nickname, it slipped out when I got mad. But a lot of it was about me… favoring you over him. Since the first practice, really. And he’s right. I let you walk all over him at practices; that’s not being a good captain. And on the personal side—” he falters and shakes his head, steeling himself to meet her eyes. “It’s the same issue. I’m not about to try and put a label on us, but Jason is my best friend, and I let you walk all over him outside of practice too. That’s on me.”

“You didn’t _let_ me do anything. I did it myself,” she scoffs.

“No, I kept myself silent with that same excuse for too long. I still should’ve stopped it. You don’t have to make me feel better about this, it’s something I need to accept. This part is my fault. I thought I was taking the path of least resistance for everyone by trying to keep you two apart, but I was just making things harder on him. I should’ve addressed the issue myself.”

Annabeth winds her arms around his shoulders. “So you come to my apartment, tell me you can’t go back to your _own home_ while on the verge of tears, and expect me to not take issue with Jason over it?”

“Yeah, I do. This isn’t your fight, this is for Jason and I to handle on our own.” Percy holds her gaze, finally standing his ground on this even though he’s doing it far too late.

A calculating look passes over Annabeth’s face, and Percy can practically see the gears in her head turning. “Okay,” she sighs, “I’ll back off. I’m not happy about it, but I will. For your sake and Piper’s. But Percy, this is not your fault. You and Jason _both_ made mistakes, and I’m sure you both said things you didn’t mean.”

“I told him he shouldn’t be captain.”

She inhales sharply. “Alright, that’s going to be hard to fix, but not impossible. I’m going to assume he said things that were just as bad?”

“He, uh, he got the last word, yeah.” Percy looks around, desperate to avoid Annabeth’s eyes and the lump forming in his throat.

Because he got what he wanted, didn’t he? He has the girl of his dreams; she’s sitting in his lap, here without boundaries or rules. That’s all he’s wanted all season.

But what did he give up to get it?

The one person who he could count on through it all. Who, despite all of the lies and faults, is still Percy’s best friend. Even now, Jason is the only person who knows exactly what Percy is going through, and Percy pushed him away. They lit that match and burned the bridge together.

He doesn’t realize there are tears falling down his cheeks until Annabeth wipes them away. Her eyes dart around his face, trying to figure out what got him to this point, before she shakes her head and pulls him into her.

His face rests in the crook of her neck, his arms tightening around her waist. All the while she just rubs his back and plays with the hair at the nape of his neck, her hands and voice working in tandem to sooth him.

For a brief moment he weakly tries to pull away, to resist the temptation to fall apart in her arms, but he can’t bring himself to.

Annabeth’s voice registers against his cheek. “Whoa, hey, it’s alright, Percy. You don’t have to hold it in. You don’t have to stay strong.”

He breaks. He’s been trying so hard to take care of everyone else that at some point he lost sight of taking care of himself. Right now, that means letting someone else take care of him.

“I lost him,” he sobs. “I could count on him for anything, and I lost him.”

“Shh,” Annabeth whispers and presses a kiss to his temple. How she can be so gentle with him when he least deserves it, he doesn’t understand. “You didn’t lose him.”

“You weren’t there.”

“I didn’t have to be,” she answers slowly. “You guys love each other. You’ll find your way back to one another.”

“And what if we don’t?” Percy manages.

“Then you can count on me.” Percy pulls back to look her in the eye. She looks surprised at her own words, though she doesn’t appear skeptical of them. She takes his face in her hands and strokes his cheeks with her thumbs. “You can count on me, Percy. I’m here for you.” Her throat bobs, and she looks scared, but there’s a determination there that soothes him.

It breaks when she huffs and wipes his cheeks again, hands achingly gentle. She lets out a breath that’s somewhere between a laugh and a sigh before pulling him in for another kiss.

He smiles against her lips despite everything that’s happened tonight. She’s here with him, despite it all. His hands tighten around her waist and bring her closer to him, and for once he doesn’t have to worry or over-analyze. He pours everything he’s held back these past several months into the kiss, deepening it and kissing her until his lungs burn. He won’t be the first to pull away. He’s not sure he ever will.

“Are you okay?” she asks against his lips, both of them panting.

“With this? Yeah, I’m more than okay.” He tries for a smile and catches her lips again.

“No.” She backs up. “That’s not what I meant. The fight. Jason. I can’t tell where you’re at right now.”

“I don’t know where I’m at either,” Percy admits. “But I know things don’t feel as heavy when I’m with you, and that’s… a lot better than I can say about two hours ago.”

“Okay.” She nods, clearly not satisfied with his answer. “We have practice in the morning.” Her voice is impossibly neutral, betrayed only by her analytic eyes.

Percy winces. “I don’t want to think about that right now.”

“You need to,” she levels. “Percy, we’re going to playoffs. You’re allowed to hurt, but you have to be a captain, too. And a co-captain.”

“Annabeth, I don’t—”

“Please. You don’t have to dwell on it, and you don’t have to tell me everything, but I want to know that you’ll be alright tomorrow.” She looks at him, worry swimming in her eyes, and he knows she’s right.

“I can’t make any decisions right now, and I don’t think I should. It hasn’t really processed yet. I just need some time to figure things out. A lot happened tonight.”

“You aren’t going to get the time you need. I’m not trying to push you, but I’d rather you get mad at me than walk into practice thinking people aren’t going to notice something is up. What are you going to tell the coaches when they ask?”

“I won’t let it get that bad. We’re coming off of a loss, and I’m not the only one mad at Jason. It’s not weird for there to be some tension. I can handle it.” The more he talks, the more confident he feels. The circumstances may be shit, but they provide a helpful cover.

Annabeth doesn’t share his confidence, but she seems to accept that she isn’t going to get through to him tonight. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Have I ever?” The words slip out before he can censor himself.

She chuckles at that, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. “You got me there.” Turning her head away, she tries to stifle a yawn.

Percy looks at the clock on her nightstand. “Fuck, it’s late.” He rubs her back, smiling as the yawn makes its way to the surface despite her efforts. Her nose scrunches up in the cutest way, though she attempts to cover her face. “Go to sleep, Annabeth. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“That’s doesn’t change the fact that I will,” she sighs. “I’m not very good at the whole comforting thing, but I don’t think you’re dealing with it as well as you want me to think you are. You don’t have to do that. Is there anything I can do? Anything you need? I need a direction here.”

Percy takes a deep breath and weighs his words. In the end, he can’t hold onto his thoughts any longer. “You. Just… you. Hey, don’t roll your eyes, I’m trying to be serious here,” he chuckles and traces her cheekbone with his thumb. “I’m not doing well, but having someone—having you specifically—makes it easier. I trust you with all of it, even the parts I’m not talking about, it’s just… too soon, I guess. It’s still fresh.” He looks at her, her gray eyes fixed so intently on his, the small crease between her brows fading with each word. “God, I have no clue how to say this.”

“I’m pretty sure I can figure it out.” A small smile tugs at the corners of Annabeth’s lips, and Percy stares for too long.

“But I know one thing I can say.”

“Shoot.” She tilts her head at him.

“I’m _really_ tired of having to stop myself from kissing you.”

“Then don’t.”

And, well, he doesn’t.

Later they lay tucked under her heavy comforter, her leg thrown over his, her hand falling comfortably on his stomach. This is a new kind of intimate, he thinks as she rests her head on his shoulder. Little puffs of breath blow against his collarbone, sending goosebumps down his body.

Percy presses a kiss to Annabeth’s forehead for no reason other than the fact that it’s something he can do now. He smiles into it, keeping his lips there for longer than necessary.

He tries to think of a game plan for tomorrow, but that would mean tearing himself away from this moment. And despite the panic rising in his chest, that’s something Percy just can’t bring himself to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  **Bad habit, I know**  
>  **But I'm needin' you right now**  
>  **Hate to say that I love you**  
>  **Hate to say that I need you**  
>  **Hate to say that I want you**  
>  **But I do**  
> 
> 
> So, how about this for a double update? Here's Percy's standalone chapter, I hope you guys enjoy this fluffy ending before shit hits the fan!  
> Also, if you only listen to one of my song choices for this fic, I am begging you to listen to this one. The song is Bad Habit // Ben Platt, and because of it this chapter plays like a montage in my head. I'm going to do a full break down on my tumblr (bipercabeth) once this has been up for about a day, so keep an eye out! 


	8. How Close Am I To Losing (You)?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **When something is broken  
>  And you try to fix it  
> Trying to repair it  
> Any way you can **

Percy wakes up to the sound of rustling sheets and Annabeth’s ringtone.

“Mmf,” Annabeth groans and nestles deeper under the covers and into Percy, tightening her arm around his waist. “They’ll call again if it’s important,” she mumbles, already drifting off on Percy’s shoulder by the end of the sentence.

There are less than ten seconds of silence between the first call and the second.

“Guess it’s important,” Percy chuckles. He kisses to the top of her head before she rolls away to answer.

The bed shifts as Annabeth swings her legs over the side to answer the phone; Percy stays put, rubbing her back as she clicks the green button without bothering to look at the caller id.

“Hello?” she manages, her voice still thick with sleep. “Oh,” her spine straightens, “hi.” Her tone becomes stiff, stilted.

Just as Percy fights off sleep’s heavy hold on him, she casts him a longing look and closes her eyes, that ever-familiar crease of worry forming between her brows. “Yeah, I can talk, just give me a second.” She hits mute and turns back to Percy. “I gotta take this, I’m sorry. Go back to sleep, I’ll be back soon.”

Her hand reaches out to brush back his hair, but Percy catches it and presses his lips to her palm. A soft smile spreads across her lips before she pulls away. If it weren’t for her reluctance, he’d be worried about her leaving.

She closes the door behind her, most likely heading to the couch to talk. Before Percy can worry too much, he finds his eyes fluttering closed, the warm embrace of sleep wrapping around him once more.

He wakes to Annabeth climbing into bed with him and checks the time. An hour has passed since she walked out.

“Who was that?” He tries to keep his voice calm.

Annabeth slings her arm around his waist again and tries to avoid looking at him. “It’s alright, don’t worry about it.” There’s a gravelly quality to her voice that the time out of bed should’ve eased by now.

“I’m not worried,” he frowns, “I’m asking.”

“Percy, it’s still early. Can we talk when we aren’t half asleep?” As if to prove her point, she yawns and settles on his shoulder. When she moves, he catches sight of the puffiness around her eyes.

“Annabeth.” Percy can’t hide his concern. She lifts her head, worry evident in her eyes. “Who was that?”

“Promise me you’ll stay calm?”

“It was Piper,” he answers for her, nodding stiffly. “Well, how did it go?”

She sighs, a clear confirmation he’s right. “It went… pretty well, honestly. We’re in the same situation, so it’s not like—” Her eyes widen, and she purses her lips.

Percy nods. “Jason and I? I would hope so. Is she alright?”

“Yeah,” Annabeth starts hesitantly. “More upset than angry, which is where I was at after a few minutes of talking. Still, it was hard, hearing her side of things. But I think we’re okay now.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Percy traces patterns into her shoulder, expecting her to end it here and try to sleep in before practice.

Instead she turns, props her chin on his chest, and asks, “Do you know what you’re going to do today?”

“No,” he sighs. “Just hoping for the best.”

But hope must not be worth much these days, because the second Percy pulls into the arena parking lot and looks over at Annabeth in the passenger seat, things go to shit.

Reyna pulls into the spot next to Annabeth and grabs her bag from the trunk. There’s no real reason for Percy and Annabeth to stay in the car until she leaves, which Annabeth points out to him quite plainly before opening her door.

“Annabeth, Percy,” Reyna nods, a polite smile on her face.

Given her tone, Percy is willing to bet that Reyna doesn’t know what went down last night, but that doesn’t stop the emotions churning in his stomach, forcing their way up his throat like bile.

“Hey, Reyna,” he tries, but it’s too unnatural. Her eyes flicker towards him cautiously this time, assessing him.

She walks past him and Annabeth without another word, her eyes holding a horrible understanding that makes Percy want to lock himself in his car and die.

His fears are only confirmed when he looks at Annabeth, who bites her bottom lip in anticipation. “She’s defense,” she starts quickly. “You shouldn’t see her too much today outside of a scrimmage.”

“Piper is offense,” he states plainly.

“Piper will be fine if you are.” Annabeth grabs his arm and leads him forward, her touch less tender than it was this morning. They’re in public now, he reminds himself. They have to be careful.

“You didn’t see her face.”

“ _You_ didn’t talk to her alone for an hour,” she counters. Together they walk into the arena, sighing at the cold air washing over them. It’s a moment of reprieve during an otherwise disastrous day, which Percy is reminded of the second he spots Piper waiting for them a few feet away.

It doesn’t help that Annabeth leaves his side to go to Piper’s. He knows that they can’t clue people in on their situation, but he selfishly wishes she would stay close. Today is going to be hell without her; he _needs_ her.

Annabeth wraps her arms around Piper, who throws herself into the hug. Percy gives them their space while they talk, saying the words that just don’t sound the same over the phone.

Piper starts. “I’m so sorry, I—”

“No,” Annabeth interrupts, holding Piper’s hands in her own, “you should’ve felt comfortable coming to me, and it’s my fault you weren’t. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, but I’m still sorry I didn’t. Guess we both fucked up.” Piper tries for a half-hearted smile. Jealousy bubbles in Percy’s chest as they keep talking; he wishes things could be this easy for him.

“Percy?” The last thing he expects is for Annabeth to beckon him over, but she jerks her head in Piper’s direction.

He glances around the arena, which is empty with the exception of Reyna closing the locker room door behind her.

“He’s not here,” Piper calls to him. He walks forward hesitantly, though most of the tension immediately leaves his shoulders. “We drove separately, figured it was best to keep our distance at practice today, all things considered.”

“I’m sorry,” the words escape on the exhale as easily as the act itself. “For yelling, for scaring you, for walking forward like that—” his voice gives out when Annabeth squeezes his arm, bringing him back.

“Thanks for the apology, Percy, I accept it. But I wasn’t scared of you in the locker room; I knew you weren’t going to hurt me. I was afraid of _you finding out_ , not of _you_. And as far as yelling, you weren’t the only one doing it.” She’s being surprisingly forgiving, saying the words Percy desperately needs to hear. He wonders how much Annabeth told her over the phone, how much of the situation she’s pieced together based on his reaction.

“How is he?” Percy blurts, unable to hold it in any longer.

Piper grimaces and plays with her bracelet. “I really think you should talk to him, Percy. I can’t speak for him, it’s not my place. He’s not doing well though.”

Percy looks at his feet and nods. “Yeah, I understand that. I don’t know if I’m ready to talk though, it’s not the same as you guys.” He looks at Annabeth and Piper in turn, both of whom appear doubtful. “You can’t expect us to make up in a day just because you did. I know we need to work things out, but please don’t push it.”

They exchange a look, but don’t say anything in response.

“Well, I’m going to go get changed,” Piper says plainly, gesturing down at her slightly oversized shirt and joggers. _Jason’s_ shirt, Percy realizes upon second look. It’s one he hasn’t worn in ages—he outgrew it halfway through last year’s preseason workouts—and Percy doubts anyone other than himself would notice. “Annabeth, you coming?”

Annabeth waves Piper off. “Nah, I changed this morning. I’ll be there to pad up in a few.”

Piper’s smile grows more amused as she takes in the fact that both of them are already dressed for practice. “Okay, take your time. I’ll see you in there.”

Once Piper disappears behind the locker room door, Annabeth turns to Percy. Before she can get the first word, Percy cuts her off.

“It’s not happening today, especially not before practice,” he insists.

“You don’t know that’s what I was going to say,” she says, crossing her arms.

“Didn’t need to, you’re thinking it.”

She scoffs at that. “Because there’s no reason you two shouldn’t! It took Piper and I _one_ honest conversation to air things out. It was messy, and it will be for some time, but we’re _trying_.”

“Jason and I aren’t you and Piper.” Percy shakes his head.

“You’re right. If you were, you’d be handling this a lot better,” she levels.

“So you’re telling me you aren’t still mad at her? Not even a little?”

Annabeth raises her eyebrows. “I care about Piper too much to let something we’re equally at fault for stop us from talking.”

“Well maybe that’s where we differ.”

“Not letting anger stop us?”

“Being equally at fault.”

Annabeth takes a step back. “Are you saying _you_ or _Jason_ is—don’t answer that,” she sighs, massaging her temples. “Percy, if there’s tension between you and Jason today, how long do you think it’ll take people to start asking why? Do you really think they’re going to believe that you’re mad about the loss? How long until they realize it’s deeper than that and connect the dots?”

“Can we _please_ not do this right now?” Percy takes Annabeth’s hand and squeezes, unable to convey his thoughts without tripping over his own tongue.

She squeezes back, but not before a cursory glance around the arena, which is still empty. “You have less than five minutes until the rest of the team comes through that door. If you don’t do this now, I’m worried you aren’t going to. We’re a playoff team now, maybe even a championship one. You need to be a championship captain.” Percy is starting to think she would’ve been so much better at this captain thing.

That realization drives the breath from his lungs and the straightness from his spine. Annabeth is right; he has to get his shit together, and he has minutes to do it. That isn’t enough time, but he has to try for her and the team. And Beckendorf. And the coaches. He feels the weight on his shoulders increase with each person he names, pressing down on him until he’s sure his spine is going to give out.

Annabeth brings him back by swiping her thumb over his knuckles. Her face is still serious, but not as hard around the edges.

“I don’t think I can do championship captain today, but I’m pretty sure I can be a playoff captain. I owe everyone that.” Percy shoves his spare hand in his pocket and hangs his head.

“Yeah, you do,” Annabeth replies coolly. But then she pulls Percy’s hand from his pocket and dips into his line of sight. He lifts his head slowly, taking in the way one of her eyebrows creeps up her forehead in something between sympathy and determination. “But you also owe it to yourself too. You’ve done good things for this team. _Enjoy that._ All the schedules, the drills, the team meetings and pep talks. Yeah, your personal life has taken a turn, but you can still do some _good_ here.”

“I don’t know, Annabeth—”

“Cool, _I do_. I wouldn’t say any of this if I didn’t mean it, regardless of what you mean to me.”

Percy feels the corner of his mouth quirk up. Before he can speak, she rolls her eyes.

“Don’t you dare,” she warns, but she doesn’t resist when he pulls her a step closer by her hands. He’s just about to lower his lips to hers when they hear voices coming from outside the doors they’re far too close to.

The way Annabeth jumps back like she’s been burned stings, if Percy is honest with himself. Her hands dart to the collar of her shirt to make sure it hasn’t moved, and even the memory of the marks on her skin underneath it isn’t enough to soothe Percy’s worried heart. He knows they won’t get caught—the team is too far away and Annabeth is well on the side of caution with the high neckline of her shirt—but dread has a firm grip on Percy’s chest at the sight of her scurrying away.

She tosses a forlorn glance and a _sorry_ over her shoulder as she retreats to the girl’s locker room, and then she disappears behind the door.

Bitterness courses through Percy, but not before a surge of empathy for Jason and Piper. How many times did they have to jump apart like that? How many moments were ruined because of the secret weighing on their shoulders?

But then Percy thinks of all the times _he_ was the one they were hiding from, and in that moment all empathy disappears.

Getting into the locker room and padding up goes surprisingly well; all of this thinking about Annabeth makes it easy to keep her earlier words in mind. Percy may not be able to control what happens in his personal life, but he can control how it affects the team. He won’t let what happened to Jason last night happen to him today. There’s too much on the line.

Other team members filter in, but the usual locker room rambling and joking is replaced by a heavy silence that Percy forgot about, the kind that follows the morning after a preventable loss. There’s a stoic determination to it, one that makes his heart beat a little quicker in his chest.

They’re a playoff team. They can do this.

He can be a playoff captain.

Percy makes his way out of the locker room, avoiding the mass of bodies between him and the door. He doesn’t need to look to see if Jason is here; he knows he isn’t.

Just as Percy goes to push the door, it swings open on its own. For a second, the world narrows down to the slow reveal of the tile and wall on the other side. And then Jason is standing in front of him, looking like Percy has just slapped him across the face.

Before anyone can say anything, Jason steps to the side and suddenly becomes interested in his shoes, determined to avoid Percy’s eyes.

Fine, if that’s how he wants to play this, Percy can avoid him too. He walks past Jason without a word, stopping only to lace up his skates before hitting the ice. Everyone else is taking their time getting dressed or talking about last night, so he figures he has a good ten minutes before anyone else comes out.

Percy’s skates carve new grooves into the fresh ice as he races around the perimeter of the arena, letting the wind he cuts through pull at his hair and loose jersey. His helmet sits forgotten on the bench; it’s too restrictive to allow Percy to get into the mindset he has to be in for this practice to go well.

That doesn’t stop him from building speed, whipping across the ice in a whirlwind of dribbling and maneuvering. He avoids the goals and all the memories they’ll inevitably bring up—what Percy needs in this moment is _control_ , and there’s no better way to gain it than by establishing it over the puck. The rest of the arena flies by in Percy’s peripheral, but his world is reduced to this singularity: the contrast of the black against the white ice, the pressure it applies on his stick, the way his stick acts as an extension of his body to keep the puck in position.

“Percy!” Chiron calls from across the ice. He stands by the player’s bench, Percy’s helmet in his hands. Preparing for a lecture about the importance of safety, Percy wipes the sweat from his brow and skates over.

The intensity of Chiron’s eyes comes as a shock. They stare into Percy with a sad understanding Percy can’t quite make sense of. Chiron doesn’t know anything. He _can’t_. Percy wouldn’t be standing here if he did.

Or maybe that’s exactly why he’s standing here now.

“Are you okay, Percy?” Chiron tilts his head, but the understanding does not budge from the lines of his face, and Percy can’t think of a response that the man won’t see straight through.

“Yeah, just trying to beat everyone else to the ice, practice puck control and all that.” The words sound like a lie even to Percy’s own ears.

“Control is a wonderful thing to have in any sport, but for the things that you cannot control—” Chiron raps his knuckles against the visor of Percy’s helmet— “sometimes the best thing you can do is be prepared for the worst.” He extends the helmet to Percy. “Helmet on while you’re on the ice, Percy. You know better.”

“Thanks, Coach.” Percy takes it from Chiron’s hands and promptly shoves it over his head. “And I’m sorry about last night, an undefeated season would’ve been—”

Chiron interrupts with a twinkle in his eyes. “An unrealistic thing to demand from the youngest captains Eastview has ever had? Why, yes it would’ve been. Gleeson and I never put that pressure on you, that was a constraint you and Jason chose on your own.” Chiron’s voice fades back into stoic seriousness. “The championship, however, we push for because it’s _possible_. We’re in the playoffs, and I hope you allow yourself to celebrate that victory regardless of the loss it followed. As far as last night, you did all you could. That’s the best a good team player can do.”

“Still, I feel like I could’ve done more. I’m sorry.”

“Someone who has never put on the pads of a goalie cannot understand the way a goalie must move on the ice. You might never understand why Jason made his mistakes, but it is not your job to. Your job is to focus on your own actions and prevent yourself from making mistakes of your own.” Chiron looks into his eyes, and Percy is glad for the visor partially shielding them from Chiron’s piercing gaze. “Be prepared. Wear the helmet.”

“Was this one big metaphor for helmet safety?” Percy narrows his eyes at his coach and allows himself a slight smile.

“If that’s what you choose to take away from that, then I’ll consider it a win regardless.” The sound of skates hitting the ice pulls Chiron’s attention away; Percy turns to see the rest of the team filing onto the ice.

Hedge grunts as he makes his way to Chiron’s side and calls for the rest of the team to gather around. “You know the drill,” he says gruffly, “captains get the first half of practice. Jackson, Grace, you guys have a plan?”

“Offensive drills,” Jason says at the same time Percy says, “Defensive drills.”

The air is a lot thicker than it was seconds ago, and the team shifting uncomfortably around them tells Percy he’s not the only one who feels it.

“Okay…” Hedge narrows his eyes at them, clearly trying to figure out the motive behind them both suggesting improvements for the other’s responsibility. Chiron looks unsurprised. Percy isn’t sure which is worse. “Split up. Jackson, you take offense over there, and Grace can take defense to the opposite goal. Give it 20 and reconvene for a water break.”

Tension builds in Percy’s shoulders; Hedge hasn’t laid out directions that explicitly since the second practice of the season.

Afraid of another run-in with Jason, Percy nods respectfully and jerks his head in the direction of the goal Hedge directed them to. The offense follows wordlessly.

Things are off from the moment the whistle blows. They run basic offensive drills, practices that should be ingrained in their muscle memory, but apparently that isn’t enough to keep the team together today.

Annabeth and Piper aren’t as in sync as they normally are, even the other team members can tell. Piper is too aggressive with her passing, and Annabeth is less likely to pass in the first place.

The issue is not limited to them. Pretty soon the others are off their game as well; Katie and Travis fight over the puck, Lee Fletcher won’t communicate with anyone he passes to, and Percy is trying (and failing) to rein them all in to regroup.

Hedge’s whistle signals the end of the twenty minutes before Percy gets the chance to set things right. Percy tries to get to the bench at the same time as Annabeth, but a sudden rush of defensive players blocks his way to her. He ends up wedged between Frank and Clarisse with Annabeth sitting several people away and talking with Malcolm. Their discussion looks tense, but there’s a chance that’s just Percy projecting.

“You okay?” Frank sits forward and blocks Percy’s view of Annabeth. He didn’t realize he was staring so hard.

“Everyone seems to be asking me that today,” Percy mutters. When he sees the way Frank’s brow lifts, he lightens up. “Sorry. I’m alright, just upset about last night.” It’s not a lie, which Percy thinks is a step forward.

Frank turns to glance at Annabeth. “Yeah, okay.” He either catches Percy’s underlying meaning or doesn’t understand at all. Percy hopes it’s the latter.

“Alright cupcakes,” Hedge barks, “five minutes, then cut and shoot drill. Grace, you’re in for this one. Zhang can take the rest of defense for retrieval drills in the meantime; recovery was an issue last night.”

 _Perfect_ , Percy thinks. _Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and I all in the same place._

It’s a fitting punishment for them to be forced together despite their desperate attempts to avoid each other. Jason and Piper haven’t so much as breathed in the same direction—they’ve even gone as far as sitting on opposite ends of the bench. Surprisingly, Annabeth and Piper are keeping their distance as well, but at least they can _look at_ each other. Jason hasn’t so much as glanced at Percy since their run-in at the locker room. The one upside of drilling with Jason there means that he can’t continue to ignore Percy.

Percy downs some water and hits the ice ready to take on the challenge ahead. Cut and shoot drills require control, power, and focus. He can do this.

He has two shots to make, and he’s first in line, waiting for Jason to get settled in the goal before he can advance. Time seems to move a little slower, brought down by the way Percy’s heartbeat drums in his ears. Weave through the cones on the first shot, then circle back for another puck and cut to the second shot. It’s more a testament of Percy’s skill than Jason’s; Jason has countless goals to block after Percy. It’s Percy’s job to make sure that these two shots are the ones Jason won’t forget.

Hedge’s whistle blows, and Percy is off. He dribbles the puck and weaves between the cones with long strides, a wicked smile spreading across his face at the sound of his blades sending ice shavings flying when he cuts toward the goal.

There waits Jason, eyes trained on Percy’s stick determinedly, dutifully glued to that spot. Percy takes advantage of Jason’s focused gaze and squares up to the goal, driving the puck at it with more power than necessary for the task at hand. But if Jason is so determined to avoid him that it means making mistakes in his job as goalie, Percy is equally determined to make him regret it.

As the puck sails into the net above Jason’s shoulder (narrowly missing his mask), Percy thinks he’s managed just that. Percy doesn’t catch much of Jason’s face before his momentum takes him behind the goal to circle around for the next shot, but he sees the unmistakable setting of Jason’s jaw.

The second drive requires a side approach, so Jason angles himself in preparation for Percy’s oncoming assault. Percy picks up a puck on the way, focusing power in his stride and control in his dribbling. He levels with Jason upon his approach, preparing to put all of his strength into this last shot.

But when he looks up to take aim, he finds Jason’s eyes narrowed and fixed on his face. Too many nanoseconds pass between them, moving as slowly as if they were swimming in honey. Jason’s stance changes just as the puck leaves Percy’s control, and the puck misses the goal entirely. Jason didn’t have to do anything but look him in the eye to throw him off his game.

That isn’t what Percy meant when he set out to make Jason pay attention to him—he wanted it to be on _his_ terms.

Despite it feeling like ages, only seconds have passed since Hedge’s whistle. Percy ducks out of Michael’s way as he readies himself for his turn. It’s hard to tell from the one glance Percy allows himself to look at Jason, but Percy would put money on that being a smirk on his lips. It’s gone in the instant the whistle blows, but it was _there_.

Anger festers in Percy’s chest, rising up in his throat like hot bile. His heart hammers in his chest, sweat dripping down his body despite the exertion only lasting a few moments. Maybe it’s from the emotional toll the day is taking as well.

Percy is still seething when the last person goes (neither Annabeth or Piper make both of their goals), but he forces it down when the coaches announce that they’re going to watch from higher in the stands, leaving the decision making to the captains.

Jason skates up, stopping a few feet short of Percy and calling the defense over from their side of the ice. The team follows, forming a semicircle around the two captains.

If only Jason wasn’t so infuriatingly _collected_. He’s hurting—Percy _knows_ he’s hurting, but he wouldn’t if he didn’t know Jason as well as he does. That thought is equally maddening.

Jason should be as mad as Percy feels. _Why isn’t he mad?_ Maybe Annabeth wasn’t wrong with her nickname for him; Jason is far too perfect, far too _golden._

He won’t even look at Percy, goddammit.

A scathing comment is about to slip off of Percy’s tongue when his eyes catch on Annabeth, whose concern is written on every inch of her body. He closes his eyes and runs through the list of people he owes this to, remembers his promise to be a playoff captain today.

But in Percy’s hesitation, Jason starts talking, giving orders to offensive teammates— _Percy’s authority_ —and his composure goes out the window.

“Actually, I was thinking otherwise,” he interjects. Jason stiffens beside him, but otherwise doesn’t move. Percy takes that as a sign to keep going. “You know, given that we’re no longer undefeated, which isn’t the offense’s fault.”

Jason turns to Percy, the muscles in his jaw working. “Oh, so it’s the _defense’s?_ ”

Percy fights to keep his face blank as he looks Jason in the eye. “No, just yours,” he says coolly.

There’s a moment where Jason’s mouth opens almost indignantly, and Percy is sure a spark will light the tension between them and explode in the middle of practice. A few strenuous seconds pass before Jason purses his lips and looks down at the stick in his hand. The look on his face is unreadable even to Percy, but he nods and motions for Percy to continue.

Still, there’s something about the tension in Jason’s shoulders that tells Percy this isn’t the only issue they’re going to have today.

Percy turns his attention to the rest of the team for the first time since looking at Jason and immediately wishes he hadn’t. The few people whose eyes are not firmly fixed on the ice in front of them look between the captains with varying degrees of confusion and anger. Annabeth and Piper exchange a look Percy can’t make out without staring, and if the uncomfortable air around them is any indication, he doesn’t have the time to.

Most of the heads jerk up when he addresses the team, listing the drills and scrimmage teams for the next hour and the times for water breaks. Though Percy leaves several seconds of silence for Jason to add on at the end, they remain just that: silence.

Percy nods his dismissal to the team, and they skate into position. Reyna is the last to leave, looking at Percy with narrow eyes and certainty that is far worse than the look she gave him in the parking lot.

That leaves Percy and Jason standing at the bench the tension and distance as palpable as a five foot pole between them.

“You’re right,” Jason says dryly, “maybe I shouldn’t be captain.” Then he shoves on his helmet and skates off, leaving Percy to wonder if there was a “ _but maybe you shouldn’t be either”_ hanging off the end of that sentence. Part of Percy agrees; the other part is fuming.

Yeah, Percy is 90% certain he’s a terrible captain by the time he joins the rest of the team. The drills he’s set up are easy enough; they’re fairly aggressive in nature, but they’re more of a vent for Percy’s aggression in place of a direct channel in Jason’s direction. He needs time to blow off steam before the scrimmage.

Of course, that would require Percy to be competent enough to keep control of the fucking puck.

He’s doing a touch and pass drill with Piper and Annabeth (which is about the worst group he could be in, but they were the only group without enough people to complete the drill). With each pass, Percy’s movements are too stiff and mechanical for the puck to move easily with him. At one point, he passes to Piper with too much vigor and ends up sending the puck through two other practicing groups.

Piper skates off to retrieve the puck, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone. Ordinarily Percy would be happy with those circumstances, but he can tell by the way she avoids his eyes that they’re still in the woods with this one.

“I don’t know what—”

“I don’t care, Percy. That wasn’t okay, and if the coaches were down here to hear it, we’d be in deep shit right now,” Annabeth snaps just before Piper comes back and rotates into Percy’s spot in the middle.

Annabeth’s words stick with him for the rest of the drill; her quick dismissal, her sharp tone, the anger in her eyes. For someone who was so readily on his side the night before, she sure has changed since.

That thought causes him to double take. There are no _sides_ in this. Yes, he and Jason are at the center of it, but the goal is to make up eventually, right? Percy just isn’t in the place to think about making up right now.

Percy can’t help but wonder what it means that Jason, who knows Percy far better than Annabeth, is the one who believes that Percy shouldn’t be captain. How much can Annabeth’s words mean when she doesn’t know the whole story?

When Annabeth goes her entire turn without speaking to Percy, he thinks he might have his answer.

That same dread and frustration carries into the scrimmage. Every single team member moves around Percy like he’s some fragile thing: defensemen go easy on their blocks, and offensive players pass more often than usual. There always seems to be a crowd when Percy makes it close to the goal, like the team can sense an impending disaster and is eager to prevent it.

It isn’t until he slaps his stick on the ground in frustration and several people jump that he realizes they’re treating him like he’s _explosive_.

Percy calls for an early water break to cool down and tries to ignore the concerned glances thrown his way.

This time he finds Annabeth next to him on the bench. Percy made sure to sit at the end to allow for a quick escape if needed, but he never dreamed he’s need to escape _her_.

She speaks in a low voice, ever conscious of Frank on her other side. “Playoffs are looking great this season,” she hisses.

Her words hit Percy like a slap across the face. He straightens up, searching her eyes for some sign that her words are hostile to cover for anything else.

He finds nothing but anger.

Percy tears his eyes from Annabeth’s and leads the group off the bench. “Break is over,” he barks, backing up to the railing to give pointers before the next half of the scrimmage.

Jason joins him, because of course Percy’s luck isn’t going to get any better, and Percy can’t bring himself to look at his co-captain. Too many thoughts race through his head for any good to come from looking at Jason.

“Alright,” Percy starts, trying to calm himself as the team circles around, “if we’re going to go to the championship—”

“Yeah, that looks _real_ likely,” Jason deadpans.

Percy whips around to look at him, the sound of his skates scraping against the ice clashing against the echo of Jason’s dry voice in his head. It’s too close to what Annabeth just said for Percy to turn the other cheek. He’s run out of cheeks to turn today.

Every muscle in Jason’s body is tense, from the clench of his jaw to the way his arms are rigidly crossed over his chest. It’s moments like this where Percy realizes exactly how much Jason has grown since he started college; there is nothing about the person in front of him that resembles the kid Percy took on a tour two years ago. Percy wonders if he’s just as unrecognizable; their friendship certainly is.

“It looks a lot less likely going in with a defeat than after a bad practice if you ask me,” Percy bites out. This time he notices the team shifting uncomfortably, he just doesn’t care.

Jason’s grip on his stick tightens. “Better a one-off mistake than a bad temper.” His voice is curt and passive, and in that moment Percy knows Jason is looking to avoid a fight. He catches Jason glancing at the team before locking back in on Percy’s face.

Percy feels like he and Jason are on opposite sides of a canyon; the distance they hold between them is the only thing keeping either of them upright. If they get any more personal than slights and vague implications, Percy knows they’ll fall forward. And looking in Jason’s eyes, Percy knows Jason knows that too.

Still, he thinks it might be worth falling if he can take Jason down with him.

“A bad temper?” Percy nearly laughs. “Like slamming an opponent against the glass because a _teammate_ was targeted?” Jason flinches at the word _teammate_ , giving Percy the opportunity to lean in and growl, “like _anything_ you said last night? Like _trust?_ ”

His voice is low enough that most of the team can’t hear, but he’s gone enough to not care if they do.

He stares at Jason, hoping that his last line communicates exactly what he’s referring to. Guilt flickers in Jason’s eyes, confirming and momentarily satisfying the whirlwind in Percy’s chest, but then it’s replaced by sheer anger.

Jason’s internal battle is clear on his face, and Percy hopes it’s one he can’t win. He can hear an uglier part of him egging Jason on.

_Give in. Lose the battle; lose your temper. You’re no better than I am._

There’s a split second where Jason’s head turns—Percy _knows_ he’s looking for Piper—before he realizes that looking at Piper is about the worst thing he could do at the moment. And in that second, Percy knows he has won.

“Thirty seconds of anger,” Jason starts slowly, picking his words with deadly precision, “versus… how long have we been there? Thirty seconds of anger on someone else’s behalf versus a few hours of being angry _because you don’t know what else to be_.”

Percy balks before doubling down in his own rage, which seeps into his voice with every word. “So we’re _lying_ now? Because that’s fine as long as we’re on the same page. We can just ignore _after_ the game, I get why you’d want to. Just as long as we _both_ know _you’re lying_.”

Someone from the crowd around them tries to speak up—Percy is pretty sure it’s Frank—but he’s drowned out by Jason’s snarl of a response. “You’re one to talk about lying.”

“And _you’re_ one to talk about temper. Guess we’re equally terrible. What a perfect pair of co-captains,” Percy muses coldly. “Couldn’t have picked better myself.” He flashes his eyes dangerously at Jason, because Percy _did_ pick and he knows Jason is thinking back to his words last night. Part of Percy wishes he’d picked differently. All of him wishes Beckendorf had.

That really is the root of it all. If Percy weren’t a captain, there never would’ve been this strain on his relationship with Jason.

But regardless of being captain, he would’ve developed feelings for Annabeth, and he knows Jason would’ve fallen for Piper too. So who’s to say they wouldn’t be exactly where they are right now. This was inevitable, a fundamental difference between who Percy and Jason are. It’s almost too painful to think about.

But maybe not too painful to say in front of the whole team.

Percy considers the words, feels them forcing their way up his throat like vomit. He can take Jason down right here in front of everyone, and yes, he’d be hurting himself too, but Percy can’t bring himself to care.

He starts forward suddenly, and in that instant Jason mirrors his movements. Percy can’t tell who moves first, but he knows Jason knows what’s about to happen if Percy opens his mouth.

Before either of them can make contact, a massive hand plants on Percy’s chest. Frank stares down at him, a hand extended in Jason’s direction, but not actually holding Jason back. That makes Percy even angrier.

“That’s enough,” Frank’s voice booms down at Percy, who looks up to find a fiery anger in his teammates' eyes. It’s more indignant than hostile, unlike the blazing flames Percy finds when he looks at Jason. His eyes dart to somewhere behind Percy before hardening and returning to his face. “Coaches are on their way down. I’d take this time to get a grip instead of fighting.” The way he says it doesn’t make it sound like a suggestion.

Getting a grip is difficult with Frank’s hand still on Percy, but at least his large frame blocks Jason from view. Percy can almost feel his rage dissipate, but a hollow, empty feeling rises up in its place. Emptiness won’t work right now; anger is the only thing keeping Percy from crashing. He closes his eyes and pushes Frank’s hand, edging away so that he’s out of range and in sight of Jason. That brings the anger back almost instantly.

Heavy silence falls over the team for thirty terrible seconds as they wait for the coaches to speak. Hedge fumes silently, occasionally opening his mouth to speak before grimacing and closing it once more. Percy doesn’t know what to make of Chiron. He’s mad, that much is clear, but disappointment overshadows it.

His words match his look. “This is not a championship team.” The team inhales as a unit, which is the first act they’ve done as a unit the entire day. “Not today, at least.” A collective exhale follows.

His words rub Percy the wrong way; he’s heard too many versions of them today. “Well, we’re going for playoff team right now,” he half scoffs. A few heads turn in his direction warily.

Hedge beats Chiron to the response. “This wasn’t playoffs either. You’ll be benched within five minutes if a playoff game goes the way today has.”

Wrong time to be angry. Percy ducks his head in response, wanting so badly to respond scathingly, but knowing this isn’t a fight he can win.

“Practice is over. Go home,” Chiron orders before pinching the bridge of his nose and walking away.

And just like that, the team scatters. No one wants to stick around to sift through the rubble left in the wake of today’s practice, and Percy can’t blame them. He isn’t sure if there's anything left to salvage, or even if it’s worth it to try.

The locker room is eerily silent. Percy almost wishes someone would say something to him; he _wants_ someone to fight him. Anger is the only fuel left in Percy’s tank, and he’s running on fumes of even that. He’ll take anything: a dirty look, a muttered comment, a slammed locker.

In his frustration and yearning for someone to act, Percy ends up being one of the last people to leave the locker room.

He closes the door gently behind him, not wanting to alert the coaches to his attempt to leave. The instant it clicks shut, a hand wraps around his wrist, and Percy turns, ready to fight whoever it is.

No. He’ll fight _anyone_ but her.

“We need to talk,” Annabeth breathes.

Percy tries to swallow the lump of dread forming in his throat. “Okay,” he responds, letting her lead him down the hall and into an empty room that’s usually reserved for the opposing team.

She stops in the middle of the room and faces him with her arms crossed, an eyebrow raised in silent question. He doesn’t need her to say anything to know what she’s asking: _what the fuck just happened?_

Percy doesn’t know what to say, so he steps forward. Being closer to her always helps clear his mind. “Annabeth, I—”

She takes a step back.

Now panic takes up residence in Percy’s chest, constricting and making it harder to breathe. “I don’t— I don’t know…” he trails off. There’s nothing he can say to make this better, or even soften the blow. Still, he can try. “I’m going to fix this.”

Doubt crosses over Annabeth’s face, and Percy can’t blame her for it. Even he doesn’t believe a word he’s saying; it’d be foolish to expect her to fall for it.

“What are you going to tell the coaches when they ask?”

“That it’s _fine!_ Or that it will be! I just need some time.” Every fiber of Percy’s being longs to reach out for her, to pull her into his chest to keep them from falling apart. After all this time, he’s back at square one.

“What are you doing to make that happen? Does a single thing that happened today point to that?” Her words burn and spark within Percy, who works to control his temper yet again.

Still, he isn’t doing an incredible job of it today. “Why are you suddenly so superior about this?” he interrogates. “Just yesterday you were yelling at him and ready to fight too.”

In a flash, Annabeth’s anger dissipates, leaving her shoulders sagging under the weight of something resembling guilt. She shrinks, and all of Percy’s rage shrinks with her. He has not fallen over the edge, not yet. He has to pull himself back from it for her. She struggles to find her words, but he stays silent, giving her the space to say what she needs to say.

“Because I hurt my best friend,” she bites out, her hostility aimed inward instead of at Percy. “Piper _cried_ on the phone, Percy, and I wasn’t there to help her. I haven’t been all season. She was alone, _I was alone!_ I am _trying_ to fix things for her, because she’s the least guilty out of all of us.” Her voice grows thick in an effort to fight back tears, which she miraculously manages. “I know I fucked up, but there’s nothing I can do to change that. What I _can_ change is how I move forward, and I want to do the least amount of damage possible. Today wasn’t that. I haven’t been good for Piper. Or you, for that matter.”

“What are you talking about?” This time Percy can’t stop himself from reaching for her; he steps forward and takes her hand, which hangs loosely in his. “Of course you’re good for me.”

Annabeth looks up at him, guilt he wishes she never had to feel swimming in her eyes, and smiles sadly. “So making you lie to your best friend is good for you? Distracting you from your role as captain is good for you?”

“If those are your only standards, I’m not good for you either.”

The silence after that sentence is deafening.

“Annabeth?” Panic’s terrible grip tightens, threatening to suffocate him. Percy can’t get enough air in his lungs. Her hand slips out of his, devastatingly gentle. “Annabeth, I’m going to fix this, I swear.”

At that, she screws her eyes shut. “Will you just _stop?_ You can’t just keep digging yourself deeper with more lies! At some point you’re going to have to tell the truth, Percy!” Her voice creeps upward in pitch, both from the pain of her words and the frustration from getting them out.

“Fine, you want the truth?” Percy asks, his voice hollow. “Here’s the truth. I have feelings for you Annabeth, I have for a long time and I know you know that, but I can’t go any longer without saying it. And yeah, it’s made me do some _dumb_ shit, but it led me to you, and I wouldn’t change that. I don’t give a shit about the rules.”

For a moment, Percy thinks he’s finally found the right thing to say. Annabeth’s eyes dart around his face hopefully, but then frustration eclipses the love he sees.

“I _do_ give a shit. These rules were important to me.” She whispers the words like saying them any louder would break something.

“Then why did you break them?” His question should be hostile, but Percy can’t bring himself to direct that at Annabeth. Instead, the question is careful, cautious, maybe even a bit scared.

“Same as you.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Annabeth steels herself and looks him dead in the eye. “I thought I could handle putting too much on my plate despite saying I wasn’t in the place for a relationship the first night we spent together.” Her voice softens almost impossibly. “That changed when I got to know you.”

Hope flutters around Percy’s ribcage.

She looks at the floor, at the space she’s put between them, and continues after a shaky breath. “But I also said that even if I was, the team has to come first. That hasn’t changed.”

Annabeth’s response is a bloodhound, and the hope in Percy’s chest is a dead bird hanging from its mouth.

“What did you kiss me?” he asks. “Last night, why did you kiss me? I wasn’t going to cross that line, and I don’t understand why you did only to say _this_ the next day.”

“That’s— that’s not an easy answer. I kissed you intending to follow through with what that meant. I thought that came across this morning. But after that practice… I’m not sure I can.”

He surges forward and grabs her shoulders in panic. “Annabeth, Annabeth, _please_. You are the _only_ thing that’s stable right now. I can’t lose you too.”

Tears well up in her eyes, which she screws shut to conceal. Slowly, she peels his hands from her, swallowing roughly before speaking like the words are going to leave a bitter taste in her mouth. “I can’t be that, Percy. This team should be stable for you. _Jason_ should be stable for you. I can’t be what you need me to be.”

“I don’t need you to _be_ anything. I just need you.”

“That doesn’t make it healthy. I can’t be all you’ve got.” The first tear spills over her lashes, and Percy is struck by how hard this must be for her. For Annabeth to cry in front of him means that she doesn’t want to say it any more than he wants to hear it.

He’s being selfish; he has been for the past 24 hours especially. Clinging to Annabeth is a poor attempt at self-preservation that is only going to bring her down with him. He can’t do that to her. She may have been the catalyst to his selfishness in the beginning, but she will also be the end of it.

“Okay, I understand,” he nods.

“You do?” she sniffles, clearly surprised by his reaction.

“This team is the key to your future. You can’t throw that away from me, and I can’t ask you to. Go. I’ll be okay.” Percy ducks his head, half expecting her to listen and leave.

But this is Annabeth, and her stubbornness is one of the things Percy loves most about her. “Percy, wait. This doesn’t mean I’m _abandoning_ you.”

“You have to,” he responds quickly. “You can’t be all that I’ve got, and that’s what you’ll be if you stay.” He has to push her away; it’s for her own good. Annabeth getting caught in his mess is his breaking point, and Percy can’t risk her getting hurt more because of his actions.

“You could fix things with—”

“No, I can’t. Not after today,” he interrupts.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy catches Frank’s cautious figure in the doorway. “Coaches wanted to talk to you in their office.”

Percy puts up what he hopes is a semi-composed front. “Can you give me a minute? I’ll be there, I just…”

Frank’s eyes flicker between Percy and Annabeth, who turned her back to hide her tears the moment Frank came into view. His gaze lingers on their stiff shoulders and Percy’s glossy eyes. “Yeah, I’ll be out on the bench when you’re ready.” Out of earshot, but close enough to catch Percy regardless of whether he goes to the office or makes a break for it. Smart.

Once Frank disappears, Percy turns his attention back to Annabeth.

“I have to go,” she says, wiping her cheeks. It takes everything in Percy to keep from holding her face in his hands and wiping them for her, but he’s lost his privilege to do that now.

Instead he asks, “You need a ride?”

“No, Piper is waiting for me,” she answers quickly.

Percy hangs his head, shame and despair bubbling in his stomach at the realization that she planned another way home before they had this conversation. Regardless of whether or not Percy gave her up, there was no way he was going to walk out of this with her. “Okay.” It’s all he can muster.

“Goodbye, Percy.” Annabeth takes half a step forward before freezing in place, looking unsure of what to do in the face of the situation.

He says nothing, and Annabeth pulls away, always the first to do so. Percy doesn’t know if she looks back as she walks out to find Piper; he turns his back as soon as she takes that first full step. He can’t—he _won’t_ watch her walk away.

The only good thing that’s happened all day is the fact that Frank chose to wait two corners away. Percy stops after rounding the first one, putting his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath.

The hopelessness of the situation finally sinks in: Percy is alone. He leans against the wall, his face in his hands as tears prick behind his eyes. One minute. He gives himself one minute to wallow in his loneliness and cry.

He’s fucked it all up: his friendships, his almost-relationship, his captainship. There’s nothing left for him, and everything is too far gone to salvage.

Percy puts on a brave face and walks out to Frank without bothering to straighten up. Everyone knows he’s a mess anyway, it’s not like looking the part is going to change anything.

He regrets it when he sees pity flash across Frank’s face, but he figures Frank would’ve looked at him like that anyway.

“Want to talk about it?” Frank offers as he stands.

“Not really.”

“Figured I’d offer regardless,” Frank shrugs. “You gonna be okay?”

“I don’t know,” Percy answers. The truth feels foreign in his mouth, but not inherently bad. It almost feels good to tell someone he isn’t okay without worrying about the consequences.

“Listen, about back there… I don’t want to assume—”

“It’s not going to come up again,” Percy grimaces. “Nothing to worry about.”

 _That_ truth feels a lot worse.

Frank doesn’t look surprised; instead, he takes it in stride and starts towards the office. When they reach the door, Percy turns to him.

“About earlier on the ice. I just wanted to say thanks. For stopping me. I would’ve done something really fucking stupid if you hadn’t.”

“I think you’ve had enough stupid for one day,” Frank says without a smile. But then he turns to Percy with a horribly kind pity in his eyes, and Percy would almost prefer whatever shitstorm is waiting in that office over being looked at like that. “But you’re welcome,” Frank nods.

And with that terrifying sendoff, Percy opens the door to the office, wishing more than anything that he’d made a break for it as soon as practice ended.

* * *

All Jason wants to do after practice is to crawl into bed and sleep. And preferably fall into a coma so he doesn’t have to deal with his issues.

It feels like someone injected him full of adrenaline and he’s about to come crashing down from his high. He tried so hard to avoid all confrontation at practice and it backfired. He can feel his teammates looking after him. They’re probably wondering if he’s going to explode like Percy did.

But Jason lunged towards Percy too; like Percy said, they’re equally terrible.

It takes everything inside of Jason not to look for Piper as he quickly exits the locker room. He usually is the last one out, but not today. He can’t handle being alone in there again. Not after last night, not after today’s disaster of a practice.

From across the walkway in the arena, Piper steps out of the women’s locker room the same time Jason steps out of the men’s. For a moment, they’re the only two people around.

The message is clear on Piper’s face: _We’re in trouble._

Staying away from her during practice had been awful. Jason wants nothing more than to grab her hand and leave the arena behind them, but they can’t be seen together. The team is on the verge of uncovering their relationship and the last thing they need is to interact.

Despite knowing he needs to walk away, his feet feel planted to the ground. She doesn’t move either, both desperately wanting to close the distance between them but being unable to.

The spell is broken when the locker room door behind Piper and Annabeth appears. Jason tenses, prepared to make a break for it until he sees the look on Annabeth’s face. There’s a resigned, defeated look in her eyes, her shoulders angled downwards. This isn’t the fierce blonde who he wants to shy away from. Whatever high horse she’s been riding on this season has ridden off without her, leaving her in the dust. Whoever this person is, it isn’t the Annabeth Chase he knows.

Gray eyes meet blue and there is no fire behind the gaze.

Jason is suddenly sent back to his bed that morning, Piper pulling away from him in the early hours of the morning, phone in her hand. The words repeat back to him: _I have to talk to Annabeth._

He isn’t quite sure what they spoke about, but she came back and her eyes were bloodshot. She had assured him everything worked out in their favor, much to Jason’s dismay; although he’s glad they made up, a part of him wishes they would be just as stubborn as him and Percy. Maybe he wouldn’t feel as stupid as he does now.

Whatever was discussed between the two girls must contribute to the way Annabeth is staring at Jason now. For the first time since he’s met her, there is no malice. She looks ready to give up.

Before Jason can wonder why Annabeth suddenly doesn’t outwardly hate him, someone barks out, “Grace. Office. Now.”

Coach Hedge is standing at the entrance to the hallway that leads to his and Chiron’s shared office. Jason can feel something inside of him deflate because he knows this isn’t going to be a nice talk. Judging by the glare on Hedge’s face (which is even more scathing than usual), Jason is about to get his ass handed to him.

When Jason looks back towards the opposite locker room door, Piper is gone. She probably took off at the sound of Hedge’s voice. Annabeth is still there, her blonde hair like a curtain around her face, blocking her expression from Hedge. From where Jason stands, he can see the same defeated frown tugging her lips down.

Jason swallows back what little dignity he has left before walking over to Hedge and following him down the narrow corridor that leads to the office.

When Jason enters the office, he’s surprised only Chiron is present but not Percy. Maybe he isn’t as screwed as he thinks.

“Sit down, Jason,” Chiron says and although it doesn’t sound like an order, Jason knows it is.

Two chairs are facing where Chiron is sitting. Hedge plops down in the chair beside Chiron, both of them wearing that same look of disappointment. Disappointment towards _Jason._

As Jason sits, he tries to ignore the bitter taste of fear that has suddenly formed in his mouth. “Anything you want to talk to me about?” he asks, trying to keep his voice steady even though every cell inside of him wants the words to shake.

“We should wait for Percy.” Chiron’s voice is impossibly vacant of emotion.

Jason’s heart sinks in his chest. “Oh. Of course.”

“Zhang!” Hedge suddenly calls.

The door behind Jason opens. He turns around and sees Frank pop his head in. The memory of Frank blocking him from Percy enters his mind again and he immediately looks back at his feet.

“Can you go get Jackson? I think he’s still in the locker room,” Hedge says.

“I’ll get him.” Frank is staring at Jason, Jason can feel it.

The door shuts again and Jason still can’t bring himself to lift his head up. He stares at his shoes and wonders if he’ll ever stop feeling guilty. This is just payback for him pushing it aside for months while he deluded himself into thinking he could handle being a captain and breaking the rules by being with Piper.

Minutes drag by like hours and Jason doesn’t dare lift his head up. He already knows he’s about to be interrogated about this shitty practice and last night’s game, two things he isn’t prepared to talk about. He’s lied for months to everyone, including Percy, and he isn’t sure he can keep up with the lies anymore. Not when his coaches are finally catching on.

After what feels like years of studying his shoes, the office door opens behind him. He doesn’t dare look. If he does, he knows it’s game over.

“Percy,” Chiron greets neutrally. “Sit down.”

Heavy footsteps circle behind where Jason sits and pause before a body sinks down into the chair on Jason’s right. He finally lifts his head up, trying not to look at Percy, who he’s certain is looking away from him as well.

“Gentlemen.” Chiron clasps his hands and looks between the pair in front of him. “I thought last night’s game was just a bump in the road. After today’s practice, I think otherwise.”

Silence follows Chiron’s observation. Jason’s heart is beating in his throat and he has a ridiculous urge to cough.

“I thought you two would be able to work this out, but given the behavior shown today, I don’t think that’s possible.” Chiron leans forward. Jason hates how Chiron isn’t acting angry— he’s acting sympathetic; concerned, even. Even though Jason doesn’t _want_ to get yelled at, he hates how there’s a lack of anger. “I know you want to go to the championship more than anything, and in order to earn it, the captains need to be able to communicate with each other.”

“We are communicating,” Percy lies point blank, his voice too monotonous to be convincing. “Don’t worry about us.”

Chiron’s expectant gaze settles on Jason, who remains silent.

“What’s going on?” Hedge asks gruffly, not quite as patient as Chiron. “Last year, we didn’t go undefeated as long as we did this season. I’ve never seen you two lash out at each other. Something happened after last night’s game.”

Percy is staring at Jason now, Jason can feel it. He shuts his eyes and waits for Percy to tell the truth.

“Nothing,” Percy deadpans. “Everything is _fine._ Tensions just ran high today. We’ll be ready in time for our first game.”

Chiron shakes his head. “I’ve been your coach for three years now, Percy. I can tell when you’re not telling the truth.”

For the first time, Jason allows himself to look at his co-captain. Percy looks up at Chiron in disbelief, almost as if he can’t believe Chiron called him out, or maybe he’s surprised his lie is falling apart in his hands. Behind the shock, his eyes are bloodshot, almost as if he’s been crying, though there’s no trace of emotion in his voice. It’s almost as if he lost control of his emotions for one moment but now he’s forcing himself to remain calm. But Jason knows him well enough to know he cried before this and he’s trying hard not to cry again.

“If we want to be the champion team we can be, it needs to start here. Tell us what’s going on and we can work on it,” Chiron continues. “I hate policing you like this, but when you start letting it affect the way you play, I feel as though I must.”

“You don’t have to get involved,” Percy insists. “It’s fine. Everything is fine.”

Chiron looks over to Jason. “Jason? Is that true?”

Jason could lie and say everything is fine, but everyone knows at this point nothing is fine. What good would he be doing if he lies again?

Telling the truth impinges dangerously close to unearthing a labyrinth of secrets, a chest full of lies and betrayals that would surely make the team fall apart.

“I don’t know if everything’s fine,” Jason replies, bracing himself in case Percy loses control again and tries to swing at him.

Still ridiculously calm, Chiron asks Percy easily, “Care to revise your answer?”

It’s Percy’s turn to remain silent.

Chiron sighs and rubs his temples, closing his eyes momentarily. When he opens them again, he looks exhausted. “Thank you, Percy, you may go.”

Percy leans forward, blinking heavily. “What about Jason?” he demands.

“I’d like to have a word with Jason privately.”

“Whatever you can say to him, you can say to both of us.” Percy is unrelenting, though as the seconds pass, his voice becomes more desperate.

Chiron shakes his head. “Usually I would agree, but not today. Unless I can trust you to tell me the truth, I’d prefer to speak to Jason alone.”

Percy’s mouth opens and it looks as though someone pulled out a rug from under his feet. It’s a horrible mirror image of last night. Jason has to tear his eyes away from his co-captain’s face.

Without replying, Percy gets up abruptly, yanking his bag over his shoulder. The chair scrapes back loudly as he stands, nearly knocking back at the sudden movement. He doesn’t even bother to give Jason a glare on his way out, shutting the door with a little more force than necessary, though it’s too quiet to be considered a slam.

The tension may have been thick enough to taste, Jason almost wishes Percy was still here. He doesn’t think he can maintain his poker face alone.

“Listen, if you lie like Jackson, we can’t do anything to fix this,” Hedge rumbles. “We trust you to be open with us.”

For someone who has been repeatedly told he doesn’t deserve to be captain, Jason suddenly feels the weight of his team’s fate on his shoulders. He tries to keep his breathing steady as he nods, not allowing himself to crack under the pressure as his coaches stare at him intently.

“What’s going on, Jason?” Chiron asks, allowing the worry to flood his voice for the first time. “I didn’t expect a loss to impact you two so greatly.”

“We’re disappointed, Coach,” Jason starts slowly. “I… I messed up, got mad. The team deserves to be mad at me.”

“The team isn’t mad. The team wants to move on. _We_ ,” Chiron gestures between him and Hedge, “want to move on. But Percy doesn’t. You don’t.”

 _I_ do _want to move on,_ Jason wants to say. _It’s just a little more complicated than simply getting over it._

“We’re trying,” is all Jason can offer. “It may not look like it, but we are trying to fix this.”

 _At least_ I’m _trying to fix this. Percy isn’t._

“You almost fought in front of the team,” Chiron points out. “That doesn’t look like trying to fix… whatever this is. They’re looking up to you and Percy, and if you can’t figure out how to play together again, I’m afraid they won’t have anyone to lead into playoffs.”

Jason can feel the pressure creeping like vines around his lungs, threatening to cut off his airway. He tries to remain calm, wiping his hands on his athletic pants. The fabric is rough underneath his palms and he tries to focus on the little things in order not to panic.

“We’re working on it,” Jason promises, the lie burning his tongue. “Really. You have to trust us. Just give us time. We can fix this and be okay before playoffs start.” When Chiron and Hedge exchange a skeptical look, Jason reiterates, “You can trust me.”

If Jason’s vain attempt at comforting his coaches doesn’t work, which he knows it won’t, all trust they have in him will be destroyed. But then again, Percy doesn’t trust him anymore, so maybe he’s okay with two more people not trusting him. It seems fitting to let everyone down.

“I’m still worried, but if you think you can handle this yourselves, I have to let you do that,” Chiron sighs. “Okay. If you’re confident, I have to trust you.”

“Thank you, Chiron.” Jason stands up, sensing a finality to his coach’s tone as he pulls his bag onto his shoulder. “I’m sorry about today. And last night.”

“Don’t let one mistake drag you down,” Chiron advises. “You’re a good player, Jason. One loss isn’t going to affect how we move forward unless you let it affect us.”

There’s a double meaning behind Chiron’s words, Jason can sense this. Suddenly they’re not talking about Jason anymore; they’re talking about Percy.

Before Jason can leave, Hedge calls after him, “One last thing.”

“Yes, Coach Hedge?” Jason wills himself to turn around, the scrutinizing look on his coach’s face unnerving him.

_Fuck, he has to know._

“If you and Jackson pull a stunt like that again, I will be forced to use my bat.” Hedge gestures to his baseball bat across his lap. “Am I clear?”

“Crystal, sir.” Jason nods before turning around and leaving the office.

He should feel good about the talk. Sure, he knows he messed up in practice, but the coaches are giving him the benefit of the doubt. As long as his relationship remains a secret, he has to consider this a win.

Still, there’s still the fact of the matter that Percy hates him, his team is still disappointed in him, and even if his relationship hasn’t been exposed, there has to be some suspicions. They aren’t dumb.

As he leaves the arena, he can’t help but to contemplate how disastrous his life is currently and how on earth he’s going to fix everything.

Jason usually doesn’t spiral out. It’s not what he does. Even if he feels ready to spin out of control, his emotions growing dangerously unstable, he somehow finds a way to reign them back in, force himself to calm down. His entire life, he had managed to shut down how he feels, forcing himself to go numb. Some people can argue feeling nothing at all is almost as dangerous as allowing the emotions to overcome him, but it works. Feeling nothing is better than feeling everything.

Going numb, however, seems to be worthless. The past twenty-four hours have been filled with every negative emotion known to man and no matter how hard Jason tries, he’s felt everything. He wonders how he’d managed to go numb before when he can’t do it now. He doesn’t want to feel the guilt, the hurt, the betrayal, the anger. It’s been bubbling underneath the surface for hours now; ever since he hit the ice during practice, Percy’s been there, prodding at the wound, practically begging for a battle.

The battle almost came to be. Jason can still see Frank’s frozen form separating him from Percy. It’s like a movie replaying over his mind, how one day he’s charging at an opponent who dared to touch Piper, the next he’s charging at the person who he’d been calling his best friend for the past few years. Everything is so convoluted when he closes his eyes and feels the rage burning through his veins.

Two days ago, he would have never tried to intentionally hurt someone while playing hockey. Today, he almost wants to.

By the time he arrives home from practice and the less than pleasant talk with his coaches, he notices how the apartment is vacant. For a second, he forgets the fight and almost picks up his phone to text Percy to ask where he is. Percy should be home; he’d left the arena before Jason.

But the influx of memories hit Jason and he can feel the emotions welling up inside him like storm clouds. Percy isn’t here because this isn’t a safe place anymore. What used to be home base from the strict no dating rule is now a battle zone. Coming home is declaring war.

War, Jason realizes, has already started. It started the second Percy walked into the locker room after the team’s loss.

A warm shower usually helps extinguish Jason’s anxiety. He stands under the steady stream of water for what feels like hours, staring blankly at the tiles in front of him, waiting for the anger to roll off him like the sweat but it doesn’t. It clings to him, forcing its way under his skin, begging to be reckoned with. He doesn’t want to face the reality again. Practice had been a slap in the face and all he wants to do is forget everything.

He’s teetering off the edge; one wrong move and he’s done for. He can hear Percy’s bitter voice swarming in his head, accusing and pointing fingers. How much he hinted about Jason and Piper’s relationship. How he called Jason out for lying. How he called Jason terrible. If the team hadn’t suspected Jason and Piper’s relationship last night, they certainly suspected it now. He can practically feel their stony gazes on him, burning holes into the back of his skull.

To think Jason had been confident in keeping the secret. The one time he chooses himself, it backfires. Being selfish can work out for some people, like Percy and Annabeth. The second Jason gives in and does something for his own happiness, the universe cackles in his face and hands him the worst possible situation that could have occurred.

_They know. There’s no way they don’t know._

Piper had been shaken up; Jason saw how her eyes scanned over the team as she quickly packed up. They didn’t even make eye contact before she slipped out of the locker room. She’s just as panicked as Jason, both of them cornered like some wild animal. They’re just deer in a pair of headlights, waiting for the impending impact.

If they’re waiting for the impact, they might as well wait together.

As soon as Jason gets out of the shower, he grabs his phone and calls Piper. She must have heard the unsteady tremble in his tone, his subtle pleading enough to bring her over. She seems hesitant as she steps through the doorway, eyes scanning the apartment, body tense like she’s preparing for an attack. Her hair swings as she swivels her head, still damp from a shower. She’s put on another shirt that belongs to him, one he left at her apartment so many weeks ago, the old Eastview hockey shirt from last year. She wouldn’t be caught dead in this shirt unless in her apartment after sex, but there’s no reason to hide anymore. Percy knows, so there’s no reason to shy away.

Even though Percy knows, Jason can see Piper’s reluctance as she makes her way inside, shrugging her coat off her shoulders and kicking off her boots.

“He’s not here,” Jason assures her as he closes the door behind her. He leads her to the couch, sinking down against the cushions. “I don’t know where he is. I don’t think he’ll be coming home anytime soon.”

“How can you be so sure?” Piper sounds miserable as she practically dives into Jason’s awaiting arms. He holds her close, feeling her head press against his chest, fitting into place like a puzzle piece.

“He seemed even more upset after practice when Chiron spoke to us,” he answers, running his fingers through her hair. “Annabeth seemed pissed at him.”

Piper lifts her head up suddenly, her eyebrows pulled together. “You don’t know?”

“I don’t know what?”

“She broke it off with Percy. I drove her home from practice. It didn’t seem like it was a mutual decision.”

Jason blinks and suddenly understands why Percy took Chiron’s request to speak to Jason alone so poorly. He can only imagine how much it’d hurt if Piper broke up with him. He should feel sympathetic, but an ugly part inside of him is almost happy.

 _It’s karma,_ the voice deep down hisses. _He tried to hurt you. The team might know about your relationship. It’s what he deserves._

But Jason doesn’t want to think about his best friend like this. He can feel his toes brushing the edge of the cliff. One misstep and the emotion will really own him.

Instead of giving in and thinking about Percy, he brushes back a strand of Piper’s hair and asks, “Are you okay? I didn’t get to talk to you before you left.”

“I’m okay.” Anyone else would think Piper was telling the truth. But Jason knows her too well; she’s lying through her teeth.

“You’re not.” He watches as her eyes shut, the inevitability of the truth laid out in front of them. “Listen, I know what Percy said was harsh—”

“It’s not just that,” Piper interrupts. “It’s _so_ much, Jason. Our teammates aren’t stupid. They know you two and they know you guys wouldn’t be so angry over a loss. You win some, you lose some, but the team stays together. Practice was _awful_ and the team isn’t going to turn a blind eye to it. They have no know something else is behind this. Percy made it very clear something happened after practice, _and_ he mentioned me.”

“He didn’t say your name.”

“Didn’t have to. You don’t lose control on the ice. You lost control last night because I could’ve gotten hurt and now Percy almost fought you at practice. They have to suspect something.” Her voice grows quiet and she turns away from him. “If I get kicked off the team, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I finally started feeling like I belonged with the boys and now there’s a chance I’m getting the boot. How are you okay with all of this?”

Jason is furious. He just can’t let himself feel the anger or he isn’t sure if he'll ever find it in his heart to forgive Percy.

If Percy can’t find a way to accept the bombshell entailing Jason and Piper’s relationship, Jason knows no one will take this news well. If the team really does suspect the truth, it’s only a matter of time before the coaches will catch on. His captain title is in jeopardy and so is his spot on the team.

He already lost Percy and now he may lose hockey. He isn’t sure he’ll be able to recover from this.

“I can’t think about what might happen,” Jason responds quietly. “I promised Chiron that we’d be okay in time for playoffs.”

“Practice was a shitshow. Do you really think we can pull ourselves together in time for playoffs?” Piper asks doubtfully. “We don’t have a lot of time to repair what’s been broken.”

“I don’t know, Pipes.” Jason uses his free one to rub his temple, the other still wrapped around her waist. “I have to believe we can.”

She sighs and bites her bottom lip. “I thought he’d get over it. Judging by the way he talked to me this morning, I at least thought he’d be civil.”

“What’d he say to you this morning?”

“He apologized that I saw the fight.” Piper hesitates, almost as if she has more information she isn’t sure if she should share. “He… he thought I was scared of him.”

The image of Jason shielding Piper and the expression of pain on Percy’s face flashes back to Jason’s mind. He can remember the night Percy first told him about his fears of turning out like his stepdad and for a moment, heat surges through Jason’s body and he wants to double over. Of _course_ Percy feels like shit.

Still, it’s no excuse for everything that had happened during practice.

“He also asked how you were,” Piper murmurs, her fingers brushing against Jason’s jaw. “He seemed worried about you. I knew he was angry and wouldn’t be able to make up with you, but I didn’t think he’d say all that in front of the whole team.”

“You and me both,” Jason replies wearily. “I could’ve handled his explosion in private. I just didn’t want the team to see.”

Piper shakes her head. “They saw and they have to know,” she whispers. “I don’t know what we’re going to do, Jason. I don’t know what Chiron will do, but I’ve been lying to Gleeson for _months._ He’s helped me so much for years and is the reason why I’m even at Eastview; he told the coach about me and I got scouted. I’ve never broken the rules when it comes to my team. The first time I do it, I disobey Hedge. What’s going to happen?”

The fear in Piper’s eyes must reflect the fear in Jason’s. He shrugs, unsure if he can say anything to comfort her now. He’s beyond the ability to soothe anyone over; if he can’t comfort himself, he sure as hell can’t comfort her. He offers, “If we pull ourselves together enough to make it to the championship, I’m sure the coaches will understand the relationship.”

“Is it what you need, though?” Piper presses. “Is this championship really worth losing Percy over? Losing your captain title?”

These are just more things Jason can’t dwell on. He’s internally begging for his body to go numb, to feel nothing. He hates how perceptive his girlfriend is and wishes she wasn’t such a good person so she’d just drop the matter.

“You’re such a psych major,” he murmurs, choosing to change the subject rather than answer her. He takes her face into his hands, watching her tired eyes blink in confusion. “Therapizing me.”

She rolls her eyes, clearly sensing his shift in conversation. Rather than continuing to press him for information, she replies, “You’d know if I were therapizing you. This is what I call being a good girlfriend. Is it working?”

“You’re always a good girlfriend.” He leans forward and kisses her softly, allowing the world to melt away.

Reality comes back to him with the sound of the apartment door opening. Jason pulls away, both he and Piper turning their heads towards the door. It’s a creepy sense of déjà vu; last night when a door opened, Percy appeared and interrupted a kiss.

The universe must relish in Jason’s pain because Percy is standing in the doorway, his eyes blazing into Jason’s.

“Really?” Percy asks, exhaustion clear in his voice. The phrase is clipped, harsh, almost as if there should be anger burning behind the word but there isn’t. He sounds tired more than anything. “The locker room is one thing, but in _my_ apartment on _my_ couch?”

Before Jason can decide to take the leap off the edge of the cliff and go headfirst into what could be the end of them, someone else intervenes.

“This isn’t just your apartment,” Piper says coolly, her body stiffening in Jason’s arms. She rotates her body so she faces Percy, not even willing a glance back at Jason even though he’s positive she can feel his eyes on her. “It’s Jason’s, too.”

The surprise written on Percy’s face is the same surprise Jason feels. He wonders if his face matches Percy’s— wide eyes, mouth slightly open, stiff shoulders. “We usually ask the other before having someone over,” is his feeble response.

“When have you cared about that?” Piper demands. “You only care because it’s me. Even if you didn’t care, you haven’t been the easiest person to talk to. Look at practice, for example.”

There’s a dangerous edge to Piper’s words. Jason has been so angry these past several hours that he hasn’t even considered the anger _she_ must be feeling, the burden _she’s_ had to shoulder. Throughout this entire situation, there’s been plenty of anger, plenty of betrayal. Percy and Jason’s issues finally came to a boiling point. Annabeth hasn’t been exactly the kindest person. But Piper? She’s done nothing but hold her head up high, usually the one to mediate things. She’s been tolerant and kind and never allowed her emotions to show.

Apparently Jason isn’t the only one who’s stunned at her sudden outburst. Percy takes a breath and says, “Practice didn’t have anything to do with you. This is between me and Jason.”

“No.” Within an instant, Piper tears herself from Jason’s lap and is standing opposite of Percy. “This isn’t about you and Jason anymore. It stopped being about you and Jason the second you brought your issues to practice.”

“Still, no one else should be involved,” Percy protests, “I’m not mad at you.”

“You involved the entire team today!” Piper says, the slightest of trembles in her words. “You didn’t have to undermine Jason _again_ in front of everyone. The team’s suffered enough because of the loss and now they have to deal with their captains fighting? That’s beyond selfish. You tried to hurt him and now you’re hurting _everyone_. You’re hurting _me_. Listen, I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, I really am, but we didn’t tell anyone. Reyna walked in on us, so we didn’t choose to have her find out. But I know you didn’t intend on telling Jason until he walked in on you, so you can’t act like he’s the only one to blame here.”

Percy looks like he’s just been slapped. He opens his mouth but no words come out. Jason’s never seen him so speechless before.

“I forgave you for what you did this morning when I didn’t have to,” Piper continues. “I’ve been nothing but kind to you even when you’ve been undermining Jason as a captain this entire season. I get it, lots of pressure came from Annabeth, but you ultimately made the decision to do these things. You tried to make him angry and you made it very obvious that we’re dating. What kind of _friend_ or _captain_ does that?” Her hands are balled into fists, pressed firmly against her sides.

Even though Jason shouldn’t deflect the situation given the fact Percy’s been nothing but cruel to him for the past day, he tries to mediate. He reaches forward and tries to take Piper’s hand, murmuring, “Calm down, babe.”

Piper doesn’t calm down. “Jason kept your secret for months. _Months._ He let you and Annabeth walk all over him. I’m not justifying Annabeth’s actions, but she would never try to expose my relationship to the team. Jason also would never do that to you. You know why?” She doesn’t wait for Percy to ask why. “Because Annabeth loves me, Percy. She loves me and would never hurt me like that. Jason didn’t tell anyone because he loves you, too. He didn’t even tell _me_ and I’m his _girlfriend_! But the second you find out the truth, you try to hurt Jason like that, and you also try to hurt me.”

“Pipes, please—” Jason makes another pathetic attempt to curb her attention away from Percy, who is visibly shrinking back at each word.

“No.” Piper shakes her head and meets Jason’s eyes for a moment. He’s stunned to see her eyes glossy, the tears welling up. She looks furious, the tightness in her jaw fixing and unfixing with each passing second. “I’ve sat back for long enough.” She whirls back on Percy, not hesitating to pounce. “I tried to be nice even though you hurt Jason. You might have cost us our spots on the team and I can’t let that happen.”

If Jason had been close to slipping off the edge of the cliff, Percy must have already tumbled. He stares blankly at Piper, almost as if the words don’t make sense, but Jason knows his friend too well to know the words are impacting him. All he can offer is a nearly silent, “Sorry.”

“I can’t forgive you this time.” Piper’s voice breaks as it seethes with anger and Jason can see the first tear break free. “Last night, I thought you wouldn’t hurt me. Today, you hurt me, you hurt Jason, you hurt Annabeth, you hurt my relationship, and you hurt the team. You may think Jason doesn’t deserve to be captain because he lied to you, but I know now _you_ don’t deserve this.”

There’s an eerie similarity to the way Piper and Percy are staring at each other. Their jaws are set, hands curled into fists, though Jason can sense there is no malice behind each of their steady gazes. Percy seems too tired to be angry. Piper is angry, yes, but she isn’t out for blood the way the captains were that morning at practice, which now seems like a lifetime ago. The world has shifted ever so slightly on its axis, the point of contention moving between pairs and settling over the most unlikely duel.

Maybe it was only a matter of time before Piper became fed up with Percy. For months, she observed Percy subtly undermining Jason in practice, wordlessly taking Annabeth’s side over Jason’s. Piper’s endured Annabeth’s unjustified mistreatment of Jason. Of course she never spoke up due to the secrecy of the relationship, but now their relationship is on the brink of being discovered. There’s nothing left to preserve, nothing left to hide.

“Maybe neither of us deserve to be captain,” is Percy’s brittle reply.

“It’s not about who deserves to be captain. It’s about Jason deserving better than you,” Piper retorts, eyes blazing with certainty.

With that final comment, Percy looks away from Piper, focusing on his feet instead. Even though he’s trying to hide his face, there’s no mistaking the tears welling up. For a moment, Jason feels bad and he wonders if Piper does too, but she isn’t being cruel; that isn’t Piper. She’s being honest.

As quickly as Percy walked in through the door, he’s even faster to leave. He’s on the verge of crying, Jason knows this, so he ducks his head, turning around and wrenching the door open.

Unlike yesterday, the door doesn’t slam shut. Percy doesn’t seem to have the fight in him anymore; the door shuts quietly, an almost anticlimactic end to an unexpected argument.

The silence is almost as painful this time around than it was last night. Jason feels out of place, almost odd to not have been involved. The lack of cruelty almost hurts even more than the desire to hurt another— everything said was just a testament of the truth. There’s an overbearing weight to this, knowing nothing has been altered to hurt. The truth just hurts.

Jason pushes himself off the couch, moving slowly. Piper hasn’t moved, her body facing the door where Percy had been standing. Her hands are still balled into fists and he’s afraid an unexpected movement will make her swing.

“Hey.” At the sound of Jason’s voice, Piper moves her head to look at him. Her eyes are wide, reminding him of a deer in the headlights again. Tears streak down her cheeks but she doesn’t look sad; she looks angry. “Are you okay?”

She stiffly shakes her head, inhaling shakily. She looks down and appears to realize for the first time that her hands are still in fists. She unclenches them and flexes her fingers like they hurt.

“C’mere.” Jason gently puts his hand on her shoulder, feeling how tense she is. “You’re okay. _We’re_ okay.”

At the touch, Piper flings herself against his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him as she buries her face into his shirt. He runs his fingers through her hair, feeling her body relax against him. Once she unstiffens, he can feel her chest heaving against his own and the horrible sound of her sobbing fills the room. Her arms tighten around his torso and he feels helpless as he presses a chaste kiss to the top of her head.

None of this would be happening if Jason hadn’t been so selfish. He could’ve easily told Percy the truth after the Christmas party and avoided this mess. But maybe he’s just as selfish as Percy is and it’s just taken him this long to realize it. A selfless person would have never done this. A selfless _captain_ would not put everything on the line for their own interests.

Now everything is spiraling out of control, something Jason isn’t used to. He saw Percy spin out when he left the apartment, he’s holding Piper as she sobs into his chest, her own resolve crumbling down. He’d been foolish to think the worst had occurred last night. That had been just the initial meltdown. These are the real consequences of a season filled with rule breaking and lies.

“I’m just so angry,” Piper mumbles after several minutes of crying. Her voice is muffled by his shirt, the vibration from her words running through his body like an electric shock. “I _forgave_ him and he hinted at our relationship to the team. How could he do that?”

“I don’t know,” Jason says softly, meeting her eyes as she pulls her head away from his chest. Her eyes are bloodshot and she sniffles at his response. “I didn’t think he would do that to me. But then again,” he can feel his chest ache at the realization, “I didn’t think we’d ever fight like that.”

Piper shakes her head. “You didn’t deserve this. We made some mistakes but he was _awful_ at practice today.”

“We did try to fight each other.”

“I know you wouldn’t hurt him,” she insists. “I know you. You’re hurting more than anything. You don’t want to fight anymore. He’s choosing to be angry.”

A part of Jason disagrees with Piper. A part of him _wants_ to fight. It’s a tiny, selfish part of himself tucked deep down inside. It’s the part of him that reminds him of his dad, something he wants to lock in a box and forget about. But he is his father’s child and it’s part of him. The seething, unconsolable anger is in his genes. This side of him has made too many appearances in the past few hours for his liking.

The part he’s worked on for years doesn’t want to fight. He’s set down his armor and standing in the middle of the battlefield, hands raised in surrender. This is the person his friends know, the person Piper knows.

But it’s too late to surrender. Percy wants blood and Jason can’t back down; backing down would mean his relationship would be exposed, something he can’t allow to happen.

Jason cups Piper’s face in his hands, brushing away the excess tears. “Yeah, well, I have to deal with his anger,” he says dryly. “I’m not completely innocent. I’ll have to endure it here and at practice.”

Her eyebrows pull together and he can practically see the gears turning in her head. She shakes her head and mumbles, “You don’t have to deal with it here.”

“What do you mean?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

“You shouldn’t put up with this shit if you don’t have to.” She lifts her own hand and puts it on top of his own, which is still cupping her cheek. “Stay with me until this situation cools down. Reyna won’t care and if things play out the way I think they will, the rest of the team will find out soon, so we aren’t risking anything.”

_You shouldn’t have to put up with this shit if you don’t want to._

Walking away can be one of two things— giving up or giving in. Jason might be giving up on trying to salvage his friendship, or he’s giving in to Percy’s insults.

Is there even a friendship to salvage anymore? Last night, Jason had hope. Now… he isn’t so sure. Not after practice and certainly not after this incident at the apartment.

Sticking around and dealing with more of Percy’s accusations is the last thing Jason wants to do.

“Are you sure Reyna won’t mind?” Jason murmurs.

“She was pretty fed up from practice, she won’t blame you for wanting to get away,” Piper promises. “None of this will be good for us when playoffs are right around the corner.”

The need to get away from Percy overcomes everything else. Without thinking about how potentially worse this situation can get, Jason nods. “I just have to pack a few things.”

“Yeah, of course.” While Piper should be happy that he’s taking her up on her offer, there’s a sad, defeated look on her face, as if she had hoped he would disagree and try to fight for his friendship. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“My uniform and practice gear are in the dryer downstairs. They should be dry by now. Can you go get them?”

Piper nods and perches herself on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his lips. “I’ll be right back,” she promises, almost as if she’s scared to leave him alone to fester in his thoughts.

When Piper slips out the door, Jason focuses on the task at hand— packing a bag. He goes into his room, grabbing his duffel bag from his closet. He hasn’t touched this since winter break, so it feels weird to use it now.

What should he even pack? His mind is spinning at a million miles per hour and he feels like he needs to sit down to allow his thoughts to catch up to his body. Is this a permanent situation? Is he really doing this? Piper said it’d only be until everything calmed down, but at this rate, there’s no end in sight. Jason is being weighed down by two cinderblocks, yanking him into a dark abyss, nothing but the blocks tied around his ankles guiding him. He’s being jolted left to right and nothing is preventing his fall.

In order to stay as calm as he can, he starts with simple things. Boxers. Socks. Sweatpants. Jeans. Shirts. Sweaters. His laptop. Chargers. Toothbrush. A few pairs of shoes. He packs enough for several days (he hopes he doesn’t need all what he packs).

Once the duffel is packed, he moves onto his hockey bag. His pads and skates are already in there, along with the helmet on top, but his hockey stick is carefully leaning against the wall. He goes to grab the stick and pauses.

When Jason gets overwhelmed in games, he pauses and forces himself to look at his hockey stick. The memory of the Christmas party is enough to calm him down, makes him almost want to smile. It reminds him of Piper.

But now, he stares at it and all he can feel is the nagging sense of guilt weighing him down. He’s supposed to be a leader, he’s supposed to be a _captain_ , and he lost sight of it all. He lost sight of himself, his team, and most of all, he lost sight of Percy.

Jason shakes his head and tries to ignore the sudden influx of tears welling up in his eyes as he moves his stick into its bag, setting it on top of his hockey bag.

Even though Piper’s apartment is probably the best option for him, it still isn’t truly his space. He’s so accustomed to this apartment that being away from his room is definitely going to take a toll on him, especially given the circumstances. He sighs and walks over to his nightstand, picking up the picture frame that sits there.

The picture is from Jason’s high school graduation. It’s a poorly lit photo, given the only light came from the ones of the football stadium, but it’s one of his favorite pictures of all time. It’s of him and Thalia. He towers over her, beaming as he holds his diploma, his arm tossed around his sister’s shoulders. She looks so proud, his graduation cap askew on top of her head, a head shorter but there’s no denying the sense of pride; it’s evident from just a glance that she’s his older sister.

God, Thalia would _not_ be proud of him if she knew what was going on. She met Piper over winter break, but one small detail Jason neglected to tell his sister that their relationship broke explicit orders from his coaches. So Thalia had naturally been excited that her baby brother found a girl he really liked; he’d had a serious girlfriend in high school, though what he feels for Piper erases his ex from his mind.

The Jason in the picture is not the same Jason holding the picture frame now. High school Jason was someone to be proud of— valedictorian, student council president, homecoming king, rewarded with a full ride to play hockey at a D-1 university.

The Jason who holds the picture frame now is a fraud. He’s someone who had been given the role of captain even though he doesn’t deserve it. He’s someone who is partially responsible for the destruction of the team’s trust. The foundation of the team’s reliance on one another has been reduced to rubble because of his mistakes; there’s nothing but ashes and smoke and he can’t pin the blame all on Percy.

_Thalia wouldn’t be proud of you because you’re a horrible person. Just like Dad._

The tears break free and Jason loses the battle. Here he is, his life in ruins around him, watching everything he thought he knew spiral out of control. He feels like he’s surviving outside of his body, a spectator as he watches a train derail. He can’t do anything, can’t even scream, as the wheels lose traction. And then suddenly he’s back inside his body, feeling everything flip upside down, struck with the horrible realization that he can’t do anything to stop the crash.

“Jason?” Piper’s voice breaks him from his moment of self-deprecation.

He tries to control his breathing, choosing to stare at the wall in front of him instead of looking down at the picture in his hands. “Yeah?” His voice catches on the word and he knows she knows he’s crying. He angles his body enough so he can slip the picture into the bag without facing Piper.

He’s met with silence until he feels arms wrap around him from behind, Piper’s hands resting flat against his chest. Her cheek presses against his shoulder blade and her touch alone is the comfort he desperately craves.

“You’re okay,” she whispers, echoing his words of comfort from when she was crying. “We’re okay. Just like you said. Got it?”

“I don’t feel okay.”

“You shouldn’t feel okay. It’s _okay_ not to be okay.” Her hand is resting right over his heart and he wonders if she can feel how fast it’s beating. “But you’re going to be fine. You’re going to get through this. I’m still in your corner and I’m not leaving.”

He carefully turns around to face her, pressing his hand to her cheek. She stares up at him, concern written on her features, but she seems confident in her assurances; he’s going to be okay.

Many things in life may be spiraling out of control, but Jason needs to remember there’s one thing he hasn’t lost— Piper. He isn’t quite sure why she chooses to stay considering the consequences she’s currently facing, though he isn’t going to question it; he’s so thankful for her. If he didn’t have her, he’s certain he’d be doubting his abilities to bounce back from this.

“I don’t know why you decided to date your captain,” he mumbles. “You don’t deserve to go down with me. I’m the one who messed up here.”

“Bullshit.” Piper frowns and shakes her head. “I _chose_ to be with you, Jason. Sure, you did make mistakes, but so did I. I was selfish. If you get in trouble, I deserve to be punished, too.”

“Selfish? How were you selfish?”

“From the day we met, I wanted to get to know you. I was pretty infatuated from day one,” she admits with a tiny grin. “Even when the coaches established the no dating rule, I didn’t care. I went for it. I chose my own wants over being a team player. That sounds pretty selfish to me.”

Jason lets out a short laugh, which feels weird since his eyes are still swimming with tears. “You didn’t let your emotions affect the team, though. I did. So did Percy and Annabeth.”

“Still doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to go down for this. I broke the rule just as much as you did. I broke the rule just like Percy and Annabeth.”

There’s a fist around Jason’s heart when he says quietly, “If you break up with me now, you can avoid the punishment.”

Piper’s eyes widen and she presses herself closer to Jason’s chest. “I’m not breaking up with you because of this stupid rule,” she promises. “I knew what I was risking when I kissed you at the Christmas party. I don’t care. I want to be with you. Unless,” her voice grows quiet and she breaks eye contact, “you want to break up so you can be captain.”

His heart jumps into his throat and he brushes his thumb along her cheekbone. “No,” he immediately disagrees. “No breakups. I may have made some dumb decisions these past few days, but I’m not that stupid.”

She forces a smile. “Are you sure? I’m giving you an out. I won’t even be mad.”

Instead of answering her, he presses his lips to hers. He kisses her until he’s out of air and has to pull away. He presses his forehead to hers and he can hear her jagged breathing sync to his. He wonders if her heart is pounding as hard as his is.

If Piper’s selfish, Jason must thrive off greed. Here he is, packing his bags, staying with his girlfriend while Percy is out somewhere hurting.

But Percy’s actions should not reflect Jason’s own suffering.

This small bubble of hope is the only thing keeping Jason sane. Piper’s skin feels like silk beneath his fingers and he can’t help but kiss her again. He can still feel the remnants of tears clinging to his eyelids, though he doesn’t feel the need to cry in this moment. The only thing he wants to do is tell her he loves her, though he isn’t sure he should risk it so soon after his first attempt. It’d make him even more selfish to expect a response when he’s put her through so much pain in a matter of hours.

“Can you carry my duffel?” he asks as soon as he pulls away from her lips and catches his breath. “I can handle my hockey bag and backpack.”

“Of course.” She pulls herself away from him and easily slings the duffel over her shoulder. “Do you have everything?”

“I think so.” Jason grabs his backpack before hoisting his hockey bag up. “Are you positive Reyna won’t mind?”

Piper nods. “If she minded, she would’ve kicked you out last week when she came home while we were in the shower.” Although the situation is grim, she flashes him a halfhearted smile.

“We weren’t _that_ loud.”

“Oh, please. My shower echoes.” Piper nudges him as she leads him out of his bedroom. “Reyna just wants us to be happy. And to do well in playoffs.”

“I can’t promise we’ll do well in playoffs since Percy and I aren’t talking,” Jason responds dryly.

“I think we all know that.”

Jason sighs as they approach the door, the two of them stopping to pull on their jackets. He risks one last glance behind him, hating how his stomach sinks at the sight of his apartment. This is the place he shared his first kiss with Piper, but it’s also now the place he can’t bear to be in since his roommate currently hates him.

_This is temporary._

It doesn’t feel temporary as Jason steps out and locks the door behind him.

Piper takes his duffel into her car and drives off before him. He puts his bags into the car before pulling out of the parking lot, trying not to glance out his rearview mirror as he turns down the street. He’s not checking his mirrors to avoid his apartment complex vanishing out of sight, but as soon as he turns a corner, he knows even if he was looking, he wouldn’t be able to see the building anymore.

The imaginary thread connecting Jason to Percy feels as though it’s strained, the two of them growing further apart both physically and emotionally. It’s trying to pull them back together, get them to reconcile, but even as an optimist, Jason knows some things are too broken to be fixed. Sometimes it’s better to cut the cord to avoid getting cut on the pieces left behind.

Jason turns up the radio and allows the music to blast, drowning out his thoughts.

He parks next to Piper and grabs his backpack and hockey bag before meeting her on the sidewalk. She offers him a soft smile before leading him to her door, her arm brushing against his as she unlocks her apartment. He isn’t sure if the touch is intentional or not, so he pretends she meant it.

As soon as he steps through the doorway into the apartment, Reyna’s eyes are on him. She sits cross-legged on the couch, her hair falling damply down her back. It’s the first time he’s seen her with her hair down, he realizes, though he isn’t sure why he picks up on that. Maybe it’s because he’s scared Piper’s wrong and Reyna will tell him to leave; if she’s mad at Percy, she has to be mad at him, too. He’s just as responsible for the fight at practice as Percy is.

“Jason is going to stay here for a bit,” Piper says as she closes the door. “I hope that’s okay. Sorry I didn’t ask, but this was a spur of the moment thing.”

Reyna studies the two of them for a few moments before nodding. “That’s fine.” If she wants to ask why Jason’s here, she doesn’t. She has to know things must have deteriorated even more if he’s seeking refuge elsewhere.

“Thank you,” Jason says, unsure if words can cover how grateful he is. “Really. For… for everything.”

“Hey.” Reyna adjusts herself so her upper body is facing Jason. “You don’t have to thank me for anything. I mean it.”

A lump grows in Jason’s throat and he has to swallow it away before he tears up again.

“Come on,” Piper murmurs, resting her hand against the small of Jason’s back, “let’s set your stuff down.”

“Before you go,” Reyna interrupts, “I do have one request.”

“What is it?” Jason asks. Since Reyna is allowing him to crash here in the first place, he’s pretty open to follow any of her rules.

Reyna narrows her eyes at them. “I value my sleep. Just know if you keep me up with your sex, I’ll take my sweet ass time in the shower. Got it?”

Piper rolls her eyes. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Reyna retorts. “Don’t think I forgot about you guys in the shower.”

“I _told_ you we were loud,” Piper stage whispers to Jason.

Jason can feel his ears heat up. “I think that’s a fair request,” he answers. “We will do our best to let you sleep.”

“Thanks.” As Piper leads Jason to her room, Reyna calls after them, “I’m making sandwiches since I assume you haven’t eaten since practice.”

“You’re the best!” Piper drops Jason’s duffel at the foot of her bed and looks up at him with an expectant look. “I told you she wouldn’t mind. She likes you.”

“I don’t know how she can still like me after today,” Jason mumbles as he sets down his own bags. “I don’t like me after today. Or yesterday, for that matter.”

Piper crosses the room and wraps her arms around him. “Hey.” She shakes her head once. “Reyna likes you because she knows you’re a good captain. And _I_ like you. I’ll like you enough for the both of us until you feel better. Okay?”

Jason can feel his chest clench, though for the first time in days, it’s a good feeling. It’s weird to not feel the guilt weighing him down; right now it’s love.

“Okay.” He kisses her softly and pulls away quickly. “Thank you, Pipes. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Good thing you don’t have to worry about that.” Piper smiles and pulls away, keeping their fingers intertwined as she pulls him after her. “Come on. Let’s eat and then we can nap. Sound like a plan?”

“I like that plan.”

And for just a moment, Jason almost forgets how his life is in complete disarray. Almost.

* * *

Percy has no fight left in him.

Jason was right: the anger was the only thing he had. There’s nothing to keep him going now that it’s gone. Everyone he had to keep going for is gone, and Percy doesn’t like himself enough right now to keep going for his own sake.

After his run-in with Jason and Piper, Percy figured removing himself from the situation would be the best bet. Instead of staying to pick a fight, he turned tail and sought refuge in the gym.

Lifting weights is usually therapeutic, but something about it just seems tiring without the usual motivation to perform, whether that motivation is improvement or anger. Percy can’t find it within himself to push the limits. He’s apathetic to the core, even in regard to his own self-destruction. Maybe even especially then.

Every time Percy thinks he’s hit rock bottom, the floor gives out. This morning he’d woken up in Annabeth’s arms. How far he’s fallen since.

His almost-fight with Jason. Annabeth leaving him. The talk with the coaches. Piper yelling at him. Percy tumbled over the edge at practice, but he just wishes he could stop falling. No matter how bad the impact would be, at least he would know where he stood. At least he could get to work on crawling out.

But now, with no idea where he stands with anyone except _far_ away, he thinks this might be it. There’s no one left to lose. Percy should feel ashamed that the thought comes to him as a relief, but at least this way there’s no one else to let down.

Well, there is one person, but Percy made the decision not to involve his mother the morning after his first night with Annabeth, and he refuses to go back on that now. He’s let her down enough in his lifetime; the thought of explaining this situation to her makes him sick to his stomach. She would know what to do—she always does—yet even that thought doesn’t tempt him to come clean.

After all of her sacrifices for him, Percy has thrown them away along with his captainship. Nearly three years of college would go down the drain if he loses his scholarship, so would every extra shift she’d picked up in the past 21 years to get him to this point. All of the sleepless nights, all of the times she’d gone hungry to make sure there was food on his plate only for him to fail in the home stretch. For nothing.

So Percy is alone. He’s accepted that now, though it gives him no clear way to move forward.

The only bearable conclusion would be one where he gets back the people he’s lost, and that looks like the least likely outcome at the moment. Percy doesn’t even know if it’s _possible_ , let alone _likely_.

He racks the last of his weights and goes to shower in the gym locker room, dreading the moment he has to return to the apartment.

Surprisingly, Percy doesn’t cry in the shower. That in itself isn’t a victory, just a result of him having nothing left in the tank.

Even the cold water can’t revitalize him. His body adjusts to the discomfort instead of fighting to keep warm, and Percy figures his body is too kind by allowing him to go numb. He deserves that discomfort; he _wants_ it.  

But when does Percy ever get what he wants?

That’s a lie. Percy had what he wanted just this morning; he just threw it away.

The more he thinks, the more he realizes that’s a lie as well. Annabeth admitting and acting on her feelings at the expense of his friendship with Jason was never something he wanted—he just convinced himself it was to prevent the inevitable breakdown the reality of that trade-off would bring.  

With that horrible thought cemented at the forefront of his mind, Percy exits the shower and prepares for the war that is returning to the apartment, putting on his clothes like armor.

The thought of seeing Piper might be even less appealing than seeing Jason—even less than seeing Jason and Piper together.

Everything she said was true, and that makes the whole thing so much more painful. In one way or another, Percy has hurt everyone he cares about. He doesn’t deserve them, let alone deserve to be captain.

Once again, Percy finds himself cursing Beckendorf for his choice. He loves the guy, but he really does have shitty choice in successors.

Percy refuses to think about what his former captain would have to say about his actions today. For the first time, he’s happy Beckendorf is no longer on the team. He’d hate for him to see this.

Of course, that being said, it’s the only thing he can think about on the drive home. He’s done a lot of driving in the past 24 hours—all of it with the intention of cooling down—that’s proven to be ineffective, so he heads straight from the gym to the apartment. He doesn’t want to stew in these emotions longer than he has to.

His drive immediately after practice was less direct, and though beating Jason home would’ve soared Percy a lot of pain, he’s glad he took the time to calm down after everything that happened at practice. If he’d already been home when Jason called Piper over— He doesn’t want to think about what would’ve happened then.

Relief floods through Percy like a hard drug when he pulls up to find both Jason and Piper’s cars absent from the parking lot. They’ve probably gone to her place to be alone. Percy can’t blame them. He’d be at Annabeth’s in a heartbeat if he had the option.

But he doesn’t, and he has no one left to blame but himself.  

Something is off as soon as Percy crosses the threshold of the apartment. Jason’s hockey stick is absent from its usual spot by the door, things are unnaturally tidy, and the whole place just feels a little empty. Percy is willing to bet Jason and Piper didn’t leave to go play hockey.

His feet carry him to Jason’s room in a frenzy of their own accord, nearly tripping him in the desperation that follows the dread breathing down his neck.

He fumbles with the doorknob and stumbles into Jason’s room, searching frantically for some sign that he’s wrong, that he hasn’t fallen even further, only to find horrible confirmation on Jason’s nightstand.

The room is relatively untouched, impeccably clean as always, including his nightstand, which is the one surface Jason allows to be cluttered. It’s barren. No glasses. No wallet. No notes. No picture of his sister.

It’s that last one that hits Percy like the punch Frank stopped earlier today. His back hits Jason’s door and he is helpless to stop the way he slumps against it.

He wraps his arms around himself, nothing but the cold press of the door against his back to ground him, to keep him here in this terrible onslaught of heartache.

It happened. Percy has given up on rock bottom. He’s just going to keep tumbling lower and lower without a hope left to crash, because that would mean a chance to restart, rebuild. Percy doesn’t get that hope; it isn’t worth anything after all he’s done. He doesn’t deserve it.

So Percy is falling, and this time Jason is not there to catch him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I'm losing friends  
>  It scares me to death  
> I'm losing hope in motivation  
> I quit holding my breath  
> Because I'm losing friends **
> 
> ...remember how we said shit would hit the fan? It's safe to say... shit has hit the fan, folks. And you thought six was bad!  
> And as awful as this chapter ends, I am sad to say this is our singular summer update for Puck It! Emma is going off to summer camp until August and I am in the midst of finals so you will not see another update for another two months at the very earliest. However, both of us would continue to love hearing from you guys about this fic or our other ones! Our tumblrs are always open for asks and analysis. While I cannot promise Emma will be around to answer instantly since she's going to be without her phone for days at a time, I will continue to be fairly active online and will respond to asks as they come, so keep em coming my way (jasonsmclean, same as my username here)! Thank you all for being so patient and while I apologize for how rough this chapter ended, I hope you enjoyed!  
> Songs for this chapter are X & Y // Coldplay for Jason, About Today // The National and I'm Losing Friends // Tanner Swift for Percy, and Scream // High School Musical 3 for the both of them (I have no regrets for this one)! 

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in this AU/other works of ours, the best place to go is tumblr. Our usernames are the same as on here, and our answers will likely be faster. There'll be bonus content on there as well (aesthetics, moodboards, playlists, etc.) because this AU truly owns us. We hope you like it as much as we do! As always, thank you for reading.


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